Welcome to Raw
by ButI'mNotAWrestlingFic
Summary: Seth Rollins is known for being a bit of a flirt, so when he locks eyes on the new interviewer, Charly, she's skeptical at best. Not wanting to gain a reputation of her own, she keeps him at bay. But Seth never minded a chase. Mature content later on [Seth Rollins/Charly Caruso]
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Couldn't resist the very apparent chemistry between Seth and the newest member of team Raw's backstage interviewing team. So let's run with it! Happens within the story of WWE.

Still working on Less Than Likely, that won't be confusing at all.

XXX

Seth Rollins had a bit of a reputation around here. He called himself The Man, and it caught on quickly. So he had no choice but to live up to it every day. No matter the cost. The cost was high, he'd known that from the time he won the NXT championship. If he wanted greatness, he could never settle, he had to keep pushing, and that could be his undoing. It had already cost him Dean and Roman, it already cost him a wedding in the idyllic church his mom had gotten married in, and it already cost him his mentor when, somehow, it still wasn't enough. Hell in a Cell was two weeks away, and it could be his chance to redeem himself. All he wanted was to show Hunter that his faith was not misplaced and that Seth's injury hadn't stolen his inner fight. He wanted to be the best again.

He didn't have that many friends in the locker room anymore. Roman was unfalteringly loyal. It didn't matter how much Seth had done to hurt him, it didn't matter all the nasty things he said, if he needed him, Roman would be there. But oh how Seth hated to admit he needed Roman. The two kept their distance for the most part, with a silent understanding of where they stood. Seth spent most of his time tagging along with the New Day or hanging out with the girls. The lack of direct competition helped.

"Charlotte wanted to do a moonsault off the top of the cell," Sasha Banks was telling him and Bayley at catering.

Seth snickered, "what'd Vince say about that one?"

"What do you think?"

"They're woooomen," he put on his best Vince McMahon impression, "no one wants to see women throw punches."

They all laughed. Even though how the fight shaped up was dependent on their personal strategies, certain moves were green-lit, and others were not. In dangerous match types like Hell in a Cell, that list got longer and longer. Everything in wrestling was drummed up, it was a performance as much as it was a fight, and management wanted it to look a certain way.

"I'm surprised she even told you her secret weapon," Bayley commented.

"Only because he vetoed it," Sasha shrugged, "plus I mean, we go way back her and me. I can't wait to punch her in the face, but I also can't wait to make history with her."

"What about your match Seth?" Bayley asked, but got no response, he was staring off, distracted. "Hello? Earth to Rollins?"

"Hmm?" he snapped his head back towards them "oh um, yeah, Vince is out of touch."

The two look at each other and laughed.

"We weren't talking about that anymore, were we?"

Sasha shook her head and laughed, "what were you looking at?"

"Or who?" Bayley said with a wide smile. She nodded to the other side of the room where a young woman was talking to Chris Jericho. "Looks like Charly Caruso's back."

"I heard she got pulled up from NXT," Sasha craned her neck to get a better view and Seth pushed her down by the shoulder.

"You two are being obvious."

"So is she here to stay?" Sasha asked him, "they wanted a Renee-equivalent on Raw, right?"

"I don't know," he said through gritted teeth, "I don't even know her."

"Do you want to?" Bayley teased, "cause she's coming over here."

"What?" he sat up abruptly while his friends laughed.

"Hi," a sweet voice said from behind him. It belonged to a petite woman with short hair and deep brown eyes. She smiled nervously at him as he turned around.

"I'm Charly, I wanted to introduce myself because it looks like we'll have a segment later today with everything that's happening for your match."

"Oh, so I'm your first victim, yeah?" he asked with a flirtatious smile.

She blushed slightly, "not exactly first, but it's a bit of a promotion."

"Are you on Raw for good?" Bayley asked, leaning in on her elbows.

"Yeah, looks like it!" she grinned, "I might get some NXT TakeOvers shows, but mostly I'll be here with you guys."

"So you're like, the new Renee?" Sasha jumped in, despite side glances from Seth that he thought very obviously said it was time for her and Bayley to get the hell out of there.

"I don't think there can ever be a new Renee," she responded with another sweet smile, "but they have some pretty big plans. As long as all of the stepping stones go well."

"Like our interview tonight?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, like that."

He nodded, smiling cooly, "I got you."

"Thank you. I'll see you guys later," Charly waved to them as she walked off.

Sasha fixed her eyes on him, smirking, "she's cute."

"Shut up." He felt his cheeks flushing.

"Aw, Seth's got a crush," Bayely laughed, "guess we'll have to share him."

"Hmm, lame. There's already enough competition for his attention."

"I hate both of you."

The two laughed at him again and Seth slumped back in his seat, grumbling.

XXX

After Stephanie announced that Chris Jericho had an opportunity to get into the Hell in the Cell match, Seth was seething as he made his way backstage. Still, a smile broke out onto his face as he saw Charly talking to one of the camera guys.

"Hey there," he said smoothly as he came up behind her.

She turned smiling, "hey, how ya doing?"

He sighed heavily, "I'll save it for the interview, give you some gold."

"Alright," she nodded, getting into place and tussling her thick waves.

"So first big interview up on the main roster," he said, following her, "you nervous?"

"Uh, well, yeah. A little," she giggled.

"Don't be," he said soft and thick, his eyes flickered down to hers. "I meant it, I got you."

She swallowed hard and looked down, blushing with a smile. He bit his lip, man she was something else.

"Ready?" the producer asked and the both of them nodded. She had to stand close to him in order to get in the frame given their height difference.

"Seth, can I get your thoughts on this announcement of your match with Chris Jericho tonight?" she asked in her announcer voice, clear and confident.

He snickered, "Charly, Charly, beautiful Charly," he smiled slyly as he saw her breath catch ever so slightly, "I know you're new around here but this is sort of Stephanie McMahon's thing. She loves to play chess with all of us around here, she loves the game and she's damn good at it. She knows you're only as good as the pieces you have, and let's be honest, I was the best piece she ever had. She can't control me anymore so she's trying to manipulate Kevin Owens."

Charly nodded, listening carefully.

"So if she wants to turn this match into an episode of Table for Three, she's gonna find out just what I'm capable of. I'm going to beat Jericho tonight, and then I'm gonna take the Universal Title from Kevin Owens at Hell in a Cell and we'll see what happens then. I'm not gonna be another cog in the machine, what I am is the man who's going to destroy that machine piece by piece."

He smiled at her again, god she was pretty. "Welcome to Raw, Charly."

Sauntering off, the producer called cut. She gave the microphone back and smiled over at him.

"That good enough for you?" he asked with a chuckle.

"Yeah it was good," she said quickly and unconvincingly.

"What?"

"Well," she smiled up at him, "it wasn't the truth."

His stomach did a backflip. "What do you mean?"

"All you said about Stephanie and burning all of this to the ground, you didn't mean it. You couldn't even say it with conviction."

"You psychoanalyze all your interviewees?" he raised an eyebrow.

"No," she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, "I was just curious. Seems like something else is going on there."

"So intuitive," he smirked.

"It's part of the job."

"Well maybe if you work on me enough you'll eventually get it out."

"Good to know," she started to turn to walk off, but he caught her.

"Hey Charly," he called, she looked back over her shoulder, "The New Day boys and me are hanging out at the bar tonight. You should tag along, celebrate your first day."

"Yeah, okay," she smiled, "sounds fun."

XXX

"No no no," Xavier was laughing at one of Kofi's stories later in the hotel bar. "That is not how it happened!"

"Oh, it is too!" Big E agreed, "You were standing there, full suit, tie, handing out resumes."

The three of them laughed hysterically and Charly smiled at their enthusiasm. She was sitting next to Seth in a booth, her arm brushing up against his as she sipped her drink. The drink he had bought her, to be specific. He leaned into her ear and whispered.

"They're always like this."

"Must be a lot of fun," she grinned over at him.

"Never a dull moment."

"Is this what you do all the time?"

"Once a week or so," he shrugged, "it's good to relax. You haven't been on the road yet, have you?"

"Only a little, tours and such."

"You'll be grateful for that margarita when you've spent all week traveling, trust me."

She laughed and took a bit of the salt on her finger, dipping it quickly onto her thumb. He felt his heart drop into his stomach.

"How many more of those scotches until I get that off-record interview about the Authority?"

He chuckled, "I'm well-practiced, love, but you're welcome to try."

"Oh well, I'll find a way," she smiled, their faces very close together, the heat building between them.

"I bet you will," he bit his bottom lip.

"Oy!" Kofi shouted at them from across the table. "No sub-grouping!"

"Sorry, what were we talking about boys?" Seth asked with a laugh.

"That time Woodsy convinced Big E to play Five Nights at Freddy's."

"Why. Why can't I just take my chair and beat that damn bunny to death, huh?" Big E crossed his arms and they all laughed.

Charly sipped the last of her drink and Seth glanced over at her.

"You want another of those?" he offered.

"I'm alright, thanks, though. Think I'll head up actually."

"Oh, you sure?" Xavier frowned, "we ignored you the whole night."

"No, it was fun, really! I'm just exhausted."

"Let me walk you up?" Seth asked softly.

"You don't have to do that," she said with a sly smile and a tilt of her head.

"I want to. The halls of hotels are actually as dangerous as a back alley."

"Well, can't argue with that," she laughed, "goodnight guys."

He walked her to the elevator, watching as her hair flirt with her bare shoulders.

"So that's the New Day huh?"

"Yep," he nodded, "good luck controlling an interview with them."

"Ugh tell me about it."

"You're doing okay, by the way," he said quietly as they stepped into the elevator.

"Yeah?"

"I know it's intimidating, your first days on the main roster circuit. But you're doing just fine. Better than fine, actually, you're killing it."

"That's really thoughtful, Seth."

"It's true."

She smiled and the elevator dinged on her floor and she led him to a room at the end of the hall. "This is me,"

He nodded, waiting for her to make a move. Instead, she sighed and looked him straight in the eye.

"Look, I hate the bullshit. Can we just cut it?"

"Sure," he was taken aback by her forwardness, but feeling confident in what she was about to say next.

"You're expecting an invitation in, aren't you?"

"Well wouldn't mind," the corner of his mouth turned upwards and he looked her up and down. "I am the Raw welcoming committee after all."

"Seth," she shook her head, "I can't."

"Boyfriend?"

"No,"

"Girlfriend?"

"Still no, it's just-"

"Married to your work? Training part-time to become a nun? Vowed your dead fiancé that you'll never take another lover? I've heard them all baby," he snickered.

"None of the above. It was really sweet of you to invite me out and walk me home, I had a great time,"

"But?"

"But I just got here. Today. I can't go sleeping with one of the faces of the company on my first night. What will people say?"

"That you're lucky, I'd hope."

"I am," she laughed and looked down blushing, "but I worked really hard to get there and I can't jeopardize that. I won't have people thinking I slept my way to the top."

He nodded, "alright, but I don't give up very easily, if that's alright by you."

She bit her lip, a grin breaking out on her face. "I think I could be okay with a little chasing."

"Maybe once I get that title around my waist, you'll change your mind."

"Yeah, maybe."

"Goodnight, Charly," he kissed the top of her head gingerly, "welcome to Raw."


	2. Chapter 2

"Charly, Charly, beautiful Charly," he mused in a singsong voice as he walked up to her backstage. She looked up from her notebook and smiled.

"One of those for me?" she asked with a little chuckle. He handed her one of the coffee cups in his hand. "Thank you."

"Welcome," he took the seat next to her. "So one week down, what do you think?"

"Could use a bit more deodorant," she teased.

"Aw, you smell alright to me."

"Very funny," she said with an eye roll. "So, big match tonight. You ready?"

"To regain my title? I'm always ready."

"Does it count as your title if you never had it?" she laughed, sipping on the coffee, "mmm this is good."

"Thin Mint creamer," he nodded. "And yes, every title is my title."

"I like the confidence, Rollins. You're crazy, but I like the confidence"

"Uhh yeah, fair."

Charly laughed, flipping those big waves. She looked back down at her notebook and scribbled a few notes. Seth watched her carefully, she fixated on her notes, writing with a curly half-cursive. Feeling his eyes on her, she looked up.

"What?"

"Nothing, I just don't think I've ever seen anyone so determined over notes."

"Gotta be prepared. You guys can be unpredictable sometimes."

"Now that just sounds like a challenge."

"Don't you dare!"

"Ha ha ha, no promises. I gotta go, but hey, stick around later."

"Well, this is my job after all."

"Good. I'll see you then."

XXX

The match was going. It wasn't going well, per se, but it was going. That was until Chris ran in like a damn maniac. How the hell was he supposed to fight off both of these two? It wasn't a fair fight, everyone knew it, not that it mattered much to Stephanie.

Still, he managed to hit a beautiful table spot onto Kevin, and the crowd went wild behind him. He pumped himself up, ready to win back that title that belonged on his shoulder. Before he could pin Kevin, though, Chris pulled the ref away. Because of course he did. He chased Chris around the ring, furious. He should've known it was a trap, it always was, and he ran right into it. Kevin pulled him up into a Powerbomb onto two tables and he could feel it, it was over.

The bell rang and he leaned her head back to the mat. He knew that feeling so well, the pit in his stomach, the taste of failure. Kevin and Chris celebrated together, hugging as Kevin held up the title. After a while, the music stopped, and two refs bent down, asking him if he was okay.

He was winded, and his back screaming. Pushing them away, he pulled himself up to his feet and realized his head was throbbing. Slowly, he stumbled out of the ring, then out of the cage. It took him a moment to hear it, but the crowd was cheering his name. They were on their feet and he was speechless. He put his hands on his hips looking up at them. One of the refs put a hand on his back and he shrugged it off again, making his way back up the ramp and through the curtain.

As he wandered through the hall, most avoided his gaze. Sasha and Bayley were sitting in front of a monitor watching as the next match started.

"Hey champ!" Bayley stood up to hug him. He held her tightly. Bayley always gave the best hugs. "Good match."

"Not good enough," he mumbled before letting her go.

"There will be others. Especially for you," Bayley said sincerely.

"Yeah well," he sat down on one of the fold up chairs and looked over at Sasha who was in a haze. She glanced back, wordlessly and he gave her a small smile. "You doin' okay?"

"My head is about to explode."

"You'll be great."

"Uh-huh."

"You do your freak out dance," he chuckled, "I need ice."

"Hey that freak out dance is confidential, buddy."

He rolled his eyes at her and pushed off the fold up chair. His body was already aching. Tomorrow would be a nightmare.

"See you later Bayely, don't let her psych herself out."

He half-limped over to the trainer's room, where he got a big ice pack taped to his back. Tossing back a couple of Advil, he took a seat on the table and sighed. A small knock came at the doorway, Seth looked up and smiled seeing Charly standing there in her short cocktail dress.

"Hey, are you alright?"

"Yeah," he ran his hands through his sticky hair, "but can we do the interview later? I…can't right now."

"Oh that's not me," she shook her head, sitting down very close to him on the table. "Might be Tom. I just came to, uh,"

"Check on me?" he said softly, looking down at her with a little smile.

"You alright?" she asked again, this time her face was very close to him, looking up at him through long false eyelashes. He could lean down and kiss her so easily, if he wasn't enjoying the game as much as he was.

"I'll be alright. I'm tough," he said with a lick of his lips.

"Yeah, I've noticed," she giggled and bit hers, a hand placed gently on his arm. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I'll get him next time."

XXX

"Seth Rollins for Stephanie McMahon," he said to the young woman at the front desk in Stamford the next morning.

"10th floor," the woman handed him a pass, "her assistant sits in the main lobby."

"Thanks," he took an elevator to the top floor to find yet another young woman at a front desk. Dully, he said again, "Seth Rollins for Stephanie McMahon."

"She'll be right with you."

"Great," he sat down at an overly plush sofa and flipped through a magazine on the table. It was David Otunga's Muscle and Fitness cover, and boring as all hell.

"Seth?" Stephanie poked her head out of her office.

"Yup," he grabbed his messenger bag and slumped into her office lazily.

"Good to see you,"

"You see me every day."

She sighed, "you want coffee? Tea?"

"Honestly, I just want to get this over with as soon as possible."

Stephanie's mouth contorted and she closed the door behind her with force.

"Thanks for dressing up," she sneered at his jeans and raggedy green t-shirt.

Ignoring her, Seth slumped into the chair on the other side of her desk as she took her seat.

"So, let's chat," she leaned in on her elbows.

"Sure, chat."

"I need you on this Survivor Series team."

He snickered, "of course you do, Steph."

"Will you do it?"

"If you thought I was going to just do it no problem, you wouldn't have had me make this detour to your office, now would you?"

She sighed, "what do you want? Within reason."

He laughed again, standing up and wandering over to the window overlooking a small park.

"I'm not after that anymore, Steph," he said quietly. When she did say anything in response, he leaned up against the window and eyed her. "I think you know what it is that I want."

"The Universal Title."

"Ding ding ding."

"I can't just give you a title shot."

"Pfft. Yeah, cause you've never done that before."

"And it was wrong, we both agreed."

"You agreed. I went along with it."

"That's not true," she stood up suddenly, "you said-"

"I know what I said Steph!"

"Okay, you know what," she moved her hair to one side of her neck, "I didn't bring you in here to run circles around ancient history."

"Fine by me."

"You want a damn title shot?"

"That's what I want." He crossed his arms, staring her down. "And frankly, after that bullshit that happened last night, it's what I'm owed.

"If you agree to be on the Survivor Series team and I give you a title shot at Roadblock, are we even?"

"Roadblock? You're gonna make me wait two whole months?"

"You're not getting it until after Survivor Series, no way."

Seth opened his mouth to retort but was interrupted by Hunter busting in with a cup of coffee in his hand. Hunter eyed Seth suspiciously, and he found himself grateful that had put so much space in between him and Stephanie.

"Brought you coffee," Hunter said to Stephanie, taking his eyes off Seth to look at her suspiciously.

"Thanks," she took it from him and sipped it, avoiding his gaze.

"Thought we agreed you weren't going to close the door when he's in here."

Seth rolled his eyes, "give me a break, Hunter."

He turned his head slowly, throwing daggers through his eyes. "You're telling **me** to give **you** a break? After all of this?"

"You got your petty-ass revenge, can we please just move on?"

"Oh yeah, that's real easy for you to say, huh?"

"Boys!" Stephanie shouted at them, "Enough! We were talking about Survivor Series."

"Let me guess, he wants a title shot," Hunter scoffed, sitting down idly on the couch.

"And soon," Seth said firmly.

"Of course you do, you think you're entitled to everything, don't you?"

"I was screwed last night!" Seth stood up straight, towering over him.

"Nice choice of words, Rollins."

"Oh Christ," Stephanie shook her head, "can we please stick to the point?"

"Raw after Survivor Series or I'm out."

"I can live with that," Steph leaned back in her chair. "Hunter?"

"Fine." He narrowed his eyes on Seth. "But if you cost us the match because you can't check your ego at the door, it's off."

Seth scoffed, "yeah, whatever."

"Don't give me that attitude."

"What attitude?" he rolled his eyes, "I swear you are as paranoid as your father-in-law these days."

Hunter was turning red, his brow knitted as he shouted. "Paranoid? PARANOID? That's rich. You fucked my wife and you have the audacity to call me paranoid?"

"Yeah I fucked your wife!" he shouted back, furious that this is where they always ended up, despite the fact that the affair had been done for over a year. "On that couch to be exact."

"Oh my god," Stephanie massaged her temples as Hunter jumped up off of the couch, disgusted. "You wanna say that a little louder, Seth? I feel like there might be some people at the end of the hall that didn't hear you."

"He started it," Seth dismissed.

"Right, I forgot you're a child."

"That's right, Stephanie, I'm a child," he shook his head and looked away, remembering how his age and immaturity was always a source of shame for her. "Are we done here?"

"We're done," Hunter answered for her.

"I'll see you at Raw."

He stormed out of the office, closing the door behind him. Immediately, heads turned, all of the c-suite executive assistants looking at him with suspicious, knowing stares. Yelling was a mistake. Rumors spread fast around here and they could take on a life of their own. He gulped as Stephanie's assistant looked away, and he tried to walk through the minefield calmly. Looking over his shoulder at the elevator, he saw that two of them were making eye contact with each other, eyes wide. _Fuck._

XXX

Backstage at Raw, Charly sat in one of the high chairs as a stylist curled her short hair. She was facing away but could hear the conversations of the female wrestlers behind her. A group of them were gossiping, chatting about some rumors that had been flying around.

"Sooo…" Alicia Fox asked waiting for an answer.

"So?" Sasha responded.

"Is it true?" Lana pushed.

"Why would either of us know that?"

"You're always with him. You fight over him on Twitter,"

"That's a joke," Sasha said quickly, "and Seth's a private guy, he never really shares that much with anyone."

"So you don't know if it's true?" Alicia asked again.

"Try Roman, maybe he knows."

"It's Seth's business, guys," Bayley piped up, "not mine or Sasha's or…"

"Ours?"

"Just leave it alone, you know how rumors go around here," Sasha said, sounding exhausted.

"You guys don't seem convinced he didn't do it," Lana's tone was suspicious.

"Like Bayley said, it's not our business."

"But he's your friend and being accused of sleeping with our boss. Doesn't that like…make you angry?" said Alicia.

"Unless you think he did?" Lana added.

"Guys c'mon," Sasha sighed, "you wanna hear that it's something he would do? Fine. We all know Seth, we all know how he feels about the sanctity of marriage, okay? But it's not my business and I'm not going to judge him because that's part of being friends with Seth Rollins."

"Take the good and the bad," Bayley agreed.

"But this is really bad."

"And it's his burden to bear, not mine."

"You wanna go ask Roman?" Lana said to Alica.

"Definitely. Bye, girls!"

"Bye," Sasha said, sounding bored. She waited until they were out of earshot to comment to Bayley. "Rumor mill's working overtime."

"Do you care?" she said after a moment, "if he did?"

"If he slept with Stephanie? I dunno. I'd wanna hear his side of things."

"Maybe they were separated?"

"Hunter and Steph? Not a chance."

"Marriages are different behind closed doors."

"Bay, I know if it's true you wanna hear that it's not his fault, but you have to know that scenario doesn't really exist. Right?"

Bayley sighed heavily. "I guess not."

"He's still our Sethie, just with a few extra skeletons in that closet."

"It's a walk-in."

Charly took a deep breath as the stylist told her she was good. Walking past, she waved to the two girls, whose eyes widened as they saw her.

"Hey ladies,"

"Oh! Charly," Bayley stammered, "didn't see you there."

"I'm quiet," she shrugged it off, "Why? You two talking about me? Is it the dress because I wasn't so sure about this color," she teased, hoping to diffuse whatever she'd just overheard.

"The color's great, Charly," Sasha assured her, "we uh, just were surprised to see you there."

"Okay well, I'll catch up with you two later."

"Bye!" Sasha watched her walk off in the direction of catering and looked at Bayley through the side of her eye. "Seth is gonna kill us."

"We could blame Lana and Alicia?"

"We just said that we think he might've had an affair with our boss right in front of the girl he's perusing. He's gonna kill us."

"Yeah fair…okay I'm just gonna have to outrun you."

"You're the worst," Sasha laughed, nudging Bayley. "Maybe she won't care."

Bayley tilted her head, "now who's being naïve?"

XXX

A/N: riffing off of my old Steph/Seth fic a bit here, because honestly, it makes the most sense to the story within WWE cannon. Think of Authority as a possible backstory that I may or may not stick to 0:)


	3. Chapter 3

They landed in Scotland after a long flight and Charly was already feeling the jetlag. When she checked into the hotel the bed was calling her name, but the bus would be picking them up in half an hour. Groaning, she washed her face and applied some basic makeup, she supposed she could wait to get to the show but decided the bags under her eyes couldn't go ignored. She shimmed into a soft black dress and tied a scarf around her neck before throwing on a heavy coat. It was way too cold here for that kind of cute outfit. Florida seemed so far away as she stepped out of the hotel's revolving doors and onto the bus.

It was hard being the new girl, she hadn't even been in NXT for that long, not the way the others were. They'd bonded over sleepless nights and the pressures of the job. Sasha and Bayley were in the back row together, laughing over something. Nia had taken the seat next to Charlotte. She knew those two had a semblance of a friendship based on mutual respect. But Charly hadn't really gotten the chance to make those sorts of bonds, so she scooted into the window seat of an empty pair and popped in her earphones for the ride.

"This taken?" a voice said suddenly. Seth was standing in the isle, a messenger bag across his chest.

"Uh no,"

He smiled and sat down next to her, taking a paperback book from his bag and sliding it under the seat.

"What are you reading?" she asked, leaning over.

"Song of Ice and Fire, number three."

"Wow, impressive. I got halfway through the prologue of the second and threw in the towel."

"He's always adding characters isn't he?"

"It's a nightmare."

He laughed, shaking his hair out of a bun. It fell gently over his shoulders and he leaned back with a serene look on his face as he opened his book. There was no denying he was gorgeous.

"What are you supposed to be on tonight?" she asked.

"No idea, Stephanie's keeping it close to her chest. I guess we'll have to wait and see."

"Right, Stephanie."

He paused, biting his lip and not looking over at her. "She's the boss."

"Maybe we'll get another segment," she said, trying to step past the awkwardness.

That made him smile, his deep brown eyes flickering over to her and raising an eyebrow.

"I'll request you specifically."

"You can't do that," she grinned, speaking in a flirtatious whisper that matched his.

"Why not?"

"Because if you could, you'd be doing it constantly."

He bit his lip and chuckled, "damn right I would." His voice was smooth and he held her gaze for a moment before returning to his book.

She smiled to herself and settled into her seat. He wasn't kidding when he said he enjoyed the chase, and he was damn good at it too. His little flirtations were driving her crazy, but she loved it all the same. Charly was sticking to her story. This was the absolute worst time to get involved with a wrestler. Especially a wrestler who had the kind of reputation that Seth had. Those rumors had continued to circle over the past week, and while people would get bored and move on in time, she didn't really have that option. As much as she wondered what his lips would feel like pressed against her neck, she knew she had be careful.

XXX

That night he was stretching backstage when she found him with the camera crew. As she approached him, a flirtatious grin came across his face and she couldn't help but return it. Maybe he did find a way to specifically request her.

"Why did you join Team Raw considering all the animosity between you Stephanie McMahon, Kevin Owens-"

"Chris Jericho," he completed the list for her, "and basically everyone else. I know you're new here Charly, and in case you haven't figured it out, not too many people like me around here."

She listened to him talk about how disliked he was backstage, still uncertain how to react in these interviews. Normally an interview was a back and forth, but in wrestling, it was a platform for the wrestler to say what they needed to say. You basically had one question and that was that.

"Now as for why I joined team Raw, let's just say I was promised certain future opportunities if I did and you know me…" he trailed off, looking over her shoulder.

As she turned, she almost bumped into a giant of a man in Bruan Strowman, and he was pissed.

"Hello," Seth said politely.

"I wouldn't worry about your future opportunities, Seth. Because after tonight, you might not have a future. I've never liked you. I'm gonna snap you in half. Like a twig."

The large man grumbled as he stormed off and Charly looked back to Seth.

"Well. One more person that doesn't like me," he glanced down at her with that smile again, "sounds like a party."

The cameras cut and she handed her mic back to the producer. He went back to the stretching that he was trying to do before she interrupted him, though as he pulled on his elbow and flexed a bicep, she was suspicious that he was showing off a bit.

"That was good," she said, sliding onto a production crate and crossing her legs gracefully.

"Thanks, had a lot to work with." He rolled his neck, "Bruan's a riot huh?"

"Yeah someone needs to teach that guy when to stop selling," she said quietly and with a small chuckle.

He raised an eyebrow, "do I sense some media bias?"

"It's the objective truth. Ya had me at 'I'm gonna snap you in half'. Didn't need to keep going."

Seth laughed, "careful with that mouth of yours, could get you in trouble around here."

"Wouldn't be the first time," she smirked.

He stopped, his breath caught and he met her eye with a lustful, surprised gaze. She held it, matching the wanting in his eye and enjoying it. Catching him off guard like that was more fun than she'd expected.

"Alright alright," he laughed it off. "What're you doing tonight?"

"Oh I have plans," she teased, smiling at him flirtatiously.

"You do not," he grinned, "what, hot date in Gasglow?"

"Maybe."

"Huh, well I hope they take you somewhere reeeal expensive because I was gonna go all out."

"You really think throwing money around is the right strategy here?"

Seth paused, looking down for a moment and then back up into her eyes. "Pizza is good too."

"I like pizza," she smiled slightly.

"Yeah?"

"Sure."

XXX

Late in the night, Seth took a deep breath outside her door and rapped on it. It opened immediately and revealed Charly standing there in a low cut tank top and black leggings.

"Oh," she blushed a little as he smiled at her, holding a pizza box in his hands. "Caught me."

"No date?"

"No," she chuckled, "That pepperoni?"

"Obviously. And it's just pizza."

"Just pizza," she insisted, opening the door for him to come in.

He set up the pizza box on the table in front of the tv and settled himself in on the floor behind it. She watched him as she rifled through her suitcase.

"What're you doing?" he asked, pulling off a slice of pizza.

"Uh," she chuckled, "putting on a bra."

She closed the bathroom door behind her and he smirked. Emerging, she tugged the hem of her blue tank top down all the way. He let his eyes graze over her neckline until she caught him looking. Charly rolled her eyes and went over to the mini bar.

"You want a glass of wine?"

"Wine and pizza? You're one classy broad, Charly."

"Is that a yes?"

"Yeah what the hell." He grinned at her as she handed him two glasses and a two tiny bottles of single serve. "Thank you," he poured them each a glass of wine.

Charly took a bite of the pizza, "Mmm, that's actually pretty good."

"Yeah it's not bad."

"This isn't a date, by the way."

"Not a date," he nodded, "you are not on a date with the top wrestler in the company."

"Well obviously, I don't see AJ Styles anywhere."

"Cold, Caruso. Ice cold."

She giggled and sipped on her wine. Seth smirked and tipped the stem of her glass up. Jumping she pulled it back up as the wine splashed down. She glared at him, grumpily pursing her lips as he laughed.

"Careful, clutz." His eyes ate it up as she leaned over to grab the napkins, a little dribble of the wine running down her chest. But he didn't dare offer her help as she patted down the stain on her neckline.

"I'll get you for that one."

"Looking forward to it," he bit his lip and replenished her wine glass. "So what's your family like?"

"Oh pretty average, my parents still live in Indianapolis. My dad's the police chief and my mom works at a restaurant as a sous-chef."

"That's a lot of crazy hours."

"Well yeah, how do you think I was able to watch all of those sportscasts late at night? It was me and my sister most nights, but she got the cooking gene so it was alright."

"Did you get it?"

"I make really good mac n cheese and that's about it."

"I like mac n cheese," he shrugged.

"What about you?"

"Oh mine were home, they just didn't realize how violent wrestling was until it was too late and I'd already become obsessed."

"Impressionable youth, got it." She laughed. "What do your parents do?"

"Mom's a school teacher and my step-dad has owned a little hardware store since as long as I can remember."

"Do you talk to your biological dad?" she asked softly.

"Never met him."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't-"

"It's alright. I've got really awesome step-dad and the greatest baby brother in the world, and my mom is happy which is all that really matters."

"How old is he?"

"Uh, 26," he chuckled, "I know, I make him sound like a three-year-old."

"Sounds like you really love him."

"Yeah I adore him."

"That's sweet."

"That's me, sweet."

"Hey, question."

"Yeah?" his stomach did a backflip at what she was about to ask him. She must've heard to rumor about him and Stephanie by now.

"What was your plan if I wasn't lying and I actually was on a date?"

"Oh uh," he laughed, relieved, "Eat the whole pizza by myself and wish I was hanging out with you."

"This is better?"

"Much better. This has been fun."

"I'm glad you lied," he said in that smooth tone.

"Yeah me too,"

He leaned in close to her, feeling her gasp and close her eyes as he grazed her lips. Thinking better of it, he stopped just short of kissing her, letting his lips flirt with the edges of hers. The warmth of her breath tickled the little hairs above his mouth. Charly bit her lip, realizing what he was doing.

"You're a tease, Rollins," she whispered.

"And you're welcome to finish the job."

Instead, she pulled away, swallowing hard.

"That wasn't a kiss."

"Sure," he replied softly, "Not a kiss."

XXX

"I love Vienna," Seth said breathily, taking in the bright lights and the cool air. "This is my town."

"I hate that we never get to see these cities," Sasha looked up to the carnival's Ferris wheel. "They're beautiful."

He looked over at her, "you alright?"

"Hm?" She didn't meet his gaze as they walked along the ice skating rink set up in the middle of one of the parks.

"You just seem…sad today."

"I'm just tired."

"You sure?"

"It's been a long loop. It's a long time, you know,"

"To be away from Mikaze?"

"Yeah. Definitely."

"Hey, how come you feel like you can't talk about him with me?"

"What?" she laughed, rolling her eyes, "that's crazy."

"No, it's not. You've been married for four months and you hardly ever mention him to me. You talk about him to Bayley all the time."

"Okay, I guess I don't really think of you as someone who would get it."

"Why? I've been engaged before-oh." It hit him all at once and he stopped in front of the skate rentals. "Got it."

"I don't hold it against you," she shrugged, "I just don't expect you to want to talk about life as a blissful newlywed."

Seth sighed, "I believed I was gonna marry her. I was wrong, obviously, I wasn't ready for that, but I'm not like...bitter towards couples who it worked out for."

"Worked out?" she raised an eyebrow. "You cheated on her."

"I know, okay, okay, you're right. I'm not an authority on relationships. But that doesn't mean I don't care about yours."

"Alright," she smiled lightly, "well, you know, we're in your town next week."

"Yeah?"

"You got a good tattoo parlor there?"

He grinned, "you're finally getting your ring tattooed."

"I've waited long enough,"

"Yeah cause you're a big baby."

"And I really want to surprise him. So will you come with me?"

"Because you're a big baby?"

"Yes because I'm a baby now will you do it?"

"Of course I'll do it!" he put her in a headlock, "I'm proud of you,"

"For getting married? Thought you thought I was too young."

"You are too young, but I'm still proud of you."

She pushed out of his headlock and pulled him into a hug. He sighed, Sasha and him would never see eye to eye on it, but he was glad she was happy. Bayley came up to them with three hot dogs and a pretzel for her and Sasha to share.

"We should get a picture by that fountain," Bayley said, leading them out of the festival.

"I'm down," Seth said through a mouthful, "I love having a beautiful girl under each arm." They both rolled their eyes at him as he draped his arms over their shoulders and grinned down at them. "You love me."


	4. Chapter 4

They were lined up on the ramp to hear Stephanie's announcements for the night. Seth hated this little practice, it always felt like they were lining up for the firing squad, and sometimes it basically was. Tonight, however, in the go-home show for Survivor Series, she was smushing them all into their 'get along shirts' so that they might work as a team come Sunday. Seth glanced over at Roman, he was looking straight ahead, nodding. At least the two of them could get on the same page no matter what. It would be really important this week, with Jericho and Owens on their team. Tonight they were separated, not that they needed the reps. They'd spent months as tag champs together and even longer as 2/3 of the Shield. If he was honest, he missed it.

In the back, Chris gave him and Braun wrapped boxes and Seth groaned. He pulled out the ugliest scarf he'd ever seen in his life.

"Oh Chris… you really shouldn't have."

"I thought we could all wear them for solidarity," he was grinning like an idiot. "It's the scarf of Jericho, try it on maaaaan."

"Uh, look, Chris, I'm just really not a scarf guy."

"You're not a scarf guy? How can you not be a scarf guy?"

"It's just not really my thing. Here, you hang onto this," he handed the scarf back to Jericho, "and I will see you both out there. Okay? Cool."

He walked off and left Jericho to deal with Bruan, and vice-versa. A voice caught him off-guard as he was about to enter the locker room.

"Seth," Charly was walking up to him in a tight sweater that made him stop and lean up against the wall, trying desprately to look cool.

"No cameras?"

"Just me," she grinned.

"What can I do for you?"

She turned on her announcer voice, a devious glimmer in her eye. "Back there you said you're not really a scarf guy, what do you have to say about this photographic evidence that you are, in fact, a scarf guy?"

Holding out her phone he laughed and blushed at the incredibly old picture of him in FCW. Sure enough, the 24 –year old Seth was wearing trunks and a thin blue scarf.

"How'd you find that, huh?" he laughed, meeting her gaze.

"Well I am a reporter,"

"And a good one at that. Might want to be careful googling pictures of me, Char."

She giggled nervously and he wondered how much she knew about that fiasco. It had happened long before the company hired her, but TMZ picked it up, it didn't stay in a bubble.

"You might find something you can't get out of your head," he said with a flirtatious smirk.

Charly's cheeks flushed. She knew what he was getting at.

"So you're admitting you're a scarf guy?"

"I was young, reckless, I didn't understand the consequences of my actions," he teased a fake sincere tone.

It made her laugh and he loved how her eyes lit up when she tipped her head to the side. He grinned back at her, wishing he could just whisk her away. But that wasn't the life the two of them lead.

"I got a match," he was sorry to say, "so I gotta, you know," he gestured towards the locker room.

"Oh, right! Of course. Don't let me keep you."

"I'd love to let you keep me," he said low, "all night if we could."

She blushed again, laughing and loving the wanting in his eyes. "Go get ready for your match. I'll see you after."

"Yeah? I hope so."

"Go," she pushed him playfully walking away. He watched her hair sway behind her and smiled to himself.

After their match with the New Day, Mick Foley told them to stick around to see their meeting with Shane and Daniel Bryan. Chris and Kevin complained to each other that they didn't really want to hang out backstage, but Seth wasn't disappointed. He would've probably been at catering, hoping to bump into Charly again. Taking a chair next to Bayley he rolled his neck and groaned.

"Long night?" she asked.

"The longest. How're things with Charlotte and Nia?"

"Oh you know," she groaned and rolled her neck, mimicking him.

"Got it. Hey, are you coming back with me and Sasha tonight?"

Bayely laughed, "I have to get back to Aaron."

"Sasha isn't running back to her boo," he said grumpily.

"He's at a trade show."

"So he's buying fabric."

"Don't be a jerk,"

"I'm not being a jerk! I'm just saying, it would be fun if you tagged along."

"It would be fun, but I can't."

"Alright," he shrugged, "we're gonna play 2K17 without you."

"You wouldn't!"

"I'm gonna be Bayley."

"You are a terrible human being Seth Rollins," she said with a huff.

"What'd he do this time?" Charly's voice rang through his ears as she took the seat next to him.

"Oh! Hi Charly!" Bayley said awkwardly, "he's uh, just giving me a hard time. No big deal."

"Well he's the worst," she gave him a flirtatious smile, "did you know he's a scarf guy?"

"Alright, alright, as if I don't get enough of the gang up on Seth game with you and Sasha."

"Yeah, well," Bayley laughed nervously, "speaking of, I should go find her. Bye Seth, Charly."

Bayley ran off and Seth's eyes followed her, his brow furrowed. He met Charly's eye and laughed.

"She's a spaz."

"She's nice…when she's not running away from me."

"Aw I think she just was trying to set us up, don't take it personally."

"We kinda had a weird moment a couple weeks ago."

"You did?"

"Yeah I sort of overheard some of the others asking her and Sasha about you."

"About me?"

"Just some rumor they heard…"

"Ah. I see."

"It was a lot like that," she looked down, "so I guess those two know about your little chase?"

"They're smart girls. But it's not getting around, I promise."

"Sure, I mean, you probably can't stop talking about me."

"Hey hey hey, I'm a little smoother than that."

"You sure about that?"

"No," he grinned at her, she knew just what to say to set him on edge, dying to feel her lips.

"You looked good out there," she changed the subject, not giving him too much to enjoy. 'I'm still learning the technical stuff but I thought it was strong."

"Thanks, it was alright. Unless you meant my ass in this gear, in which case you are very correct."

She rolled her eyes, "right."

"Ha ha ha, don't be embarrassed, I get it all the time."

"You're so full of yourself, Rollins."

"I just know my strengths."

"And your weaknesses?" she said with a smug smile.

"Beautiful women with quick wit."

"Wow, lucky."

"Lucky indeed."

"Mine's sweet guys who bake good cupcakes."

"Well, what am I supposed to do with that?"

She raised her eyebrows and laughed, tipping her head back again.

XXX

"You look like a ghost," Seth said as they pulled into the parking lot.

"I feel like I'm gonna pass out," Sasha was breathing heavy.

"You're gonna be fine. Your finger is tiny, it'll take five minutes."

"I can do this. I can do this," she repeated to herself as Seth rolled his eyes and stepped out of the car.

She still looked freaked out as they entered the dimly lit tattoo parlor. The sounds of tattoo needles whirled and she looked a little woozy.

"Robby!" Seth shook the hand of an old friend from high school, "how's it going man?"

"Business has been pretty good," the heavily tattooed man looked over at her, "You must be Sasha."

"Hi," she nervously shook his hand.

"Sash, Robby did my first tattoo, and he was great a decade ago, you're in good hands."

"It was a really easy tattoo, but yeah, you've got nothing to worry about. The worst part is gonna be that it's on the bone, but we do them all the time."

"Hey, can I get this touched up while I'm here?" Seth looked at the faded tattoo on his wrist.

"Seth!" she cried.

"Okay, never mind, next time then." He looked up at Robby, "go easy on her?"

"C'mon,"

Robby lead them to the back and set Sasha up. Seth pulled up a chair to the other side of her and took her hand. She squeezed it so hard that he could feel her cutting off his circulation.

"Ow! Sash! He hasn't even started yet."

"Sorry."

"Here, just look at me. It'll be over before you know it."

She nodded as Robby began to trace the small tattoo. Wincing, she tried to distract herself.

"So what's up with Charly?" she asked through gritted teeth.

"Charly is… something else huh? I mean," he shrugged, "it'll happen when it happens. I get the feeling she's enjoying the chase."

"Well, that's good for you right?" Sasha winced again as Robby turned her hand over.

"Look you're halfway done. No, don't actually look," he chuckled, "why do you say that?"

"Because you love chasing. Don't you?"

"I-yeah okay I do. Think she might milk it for all it's worth before she gives in."

"You complaining?"

"No, but I wouldn't mind getting to the good stuff."

"Ew."

Seth laughed and Sasha breathed deeply as Robby told her she was done.

"See, that was the fastest tattoo I've ever seen. Right Robby?"

"It's up there. You like it?"

Sasha looked at her ring finger, a single line of text, the lyrics to a song, wrapped around it in simple black ink.

"Wow."

"You're married," Seth said softly.

"Yeah. I'm married," she starred at it for a moment before looking to Seth, teary eyed, and laughing.

"We'll wrap that up and you're good to go,"

"Thanks, Robby," Seth nodded to him. "Hope she wasn't too much trouble."

"I've seen worse."

At lunch in one of his favorite local spots, she kept looking down at the bandage on her left ring finger. He ate his sandwich and laughed at her every time she did.

"You can't even see it, Banks."

"I know but-I just never got to enjoy the ring thing. I couldn't wear the engagement one in the ring or at the gym, which is over half my life. It sits in a jewelry box."

"It was a big rock too."

"Oh shut up," she laughed. "I just like having it."

"I'm glad you finally did it."

"Mhmm," she nodded and nibbled on her pasta dish. After a few moments of thinking deeply, she took a deep breath and said, "can I ask you something, Seth?"

"Uh, sure." He looked up over his glasses, nervous about what she was about to say.

"Is it true?"

"People say a lot of shit about me, you're gonna have to be more specific."

"Can you not be a smart-ass for five seconds? Is it true about you and Stephanie?"

Seth sighed, "yeah. Yeah, it's true."

Sasha looked down, not meeting his eye. "Are you still-"

"No," he cut her off, "we ended it for good last year after Night of Champions. Hunter was getting suspicious."

"After she ordered you a bronze statute? You don't say."

"Steph gets a little caught up sometimes."

"You call her Steph?"

"Yeah…" he looked down, embarrassed, "usually. We stayed close until Hunter found out at the end of the summer."

"That's why he attacked you?"

"Seems so, Steph didn't know it was coming. He told her afterward he was sorting through their cloud and found some old Snapchat screenshots...of me..."

"Jesus, Seth, those really are your undoing."

"You're telling me."

After a moment of silence, she said quietly, "why'd you do it?"

He looked away and sighed deeply. The truth hurt so much, and he'd never really vocalized what was floating around in his brain.

"I saw an opportunity. She was lonely, it was obvious."

"They always seem so happy."

"Looks can be deceiving. He'd been busy, she wasn't getting what she needed but I could offer it. It was good to have her in my pocket."

Her eyes narrowed, "that doesn't sound like you."

"Well, I mean, the sex was good too," he shrugged with a laugh, but she wasn't impressed with his answer.

"Why are you so indifferent about this?"

"Because I…" he gnawed on the side of his mouth, he just couldn't say it, "I was dumb and immature but it is what it is."

"She's married."

"I know,"

"She has kids," her brow was furrowed, her mouth turned downwards.

"I know, Sasha, I know. And I get it, you are personally offended as a married woman, but it's over."

"I'm not personally offended-"

"Yes you are, you're terrified of people like me."

"Who take affairs lightly? You could say that."

"It was selfish. We were both being selfish. It's over…I'm glad it's over."

He looked away as the silence came over their table.

"Alright," she sounded unconvinced, but he let it be. "You'd never know she was unhappy…"

"Maybe she wasn't."

"What do you mean?"

He shrugged, "happy couples cheat all the time."

"They do?"

"Oh, I mean," he realized what he'd just said to her, "I dunno I saw a TED Talk once. Probably bullshit."

"You don't think Stephanie was unhappy when she started the affair with you?"

Seth sighed, "I think she was missing something and I filled the space. Look, Sasha, can we please just talk about something else?"

"Yeah of course,"

XXX

"He's lying," Sasha said into her phone when she returned home that night.

"How do you know?" Bayley asked on the other side of the video chat.

"He was doing that false non-caring thing."

"Ohh that thing with his eyebrows?"

"Yeah that's the one," Sasha sighed, "so the affair's real but… I dunno something else must be going on."

"Maybe it's not over?"

"I can't imagine Hunter's just cool with it."

"Okay then I don't know, but if Seth wants to keep it a secret…"

"We should respect it, I know."

"I know you worry about him, but he's Seth, he's got to work it out himself."

"Yeah, I know,"

"Did he say anything about Charly?" Bayley asked.

"Seems to be going well for him, guess we didn't scare her off too bad."

"Poor girl."

"Yeah well, she's gonna have to get used to it with Seth."


	5. Chapter 5

The arena was buzzing the night of Survivor Series. Charly had only ever known it after the draft, where half as many people bustled around getting ready. It was good to have Renee around though, she was poised in every situation, and managed to come across endearing and charming no matter what came out of her mouth. It was something that came with time, she told Charly, but it was really useful in live TV. The pair were walking through the halls and talking shop when they found a group of the girls huddled together and talking quickly.

"What's going on?" Renee asked Nikki Bella.

She motioned to Sasha in the middle of the crowd, showing her left hand to Becky Lynch. "Sasha made it official."

"Oh let me see!"

Sasha laughed and handed Renee her left hand. On her ring finger a ring of cursive letters wrapped around it, simple and understated.

"Wow you finally did it!" Renee squealed. "Did it hurt?"

"Yeah, real bad. But it was fast and Seth talked me through it."

"Seth went with you?" The words were out of Charly's mouth before she could catch them. Sasha looked over, smiling shyly.

"Yeah I, uh, went to his old place when we were in Buffalo. I thought he would Snapchat the whole thing but he was actually really nice about it."

"He's secretly a sweetheart," Bayley nodded, trying not to be obvious looking at Charly.

"Oh yeah, really, just like a nice guy."

Natalya laughed, "yeah nice guy with a few dirty little secrets."

Charly gulped, here they went again.

"Are we really gonna relive this?" Sasha said, as if she'd read Charly's mind.

"Yeah, I mean, it was bad enough the first time," Nikki said with a flip of her hair.

"I don't remember that being your reaction at the time," Alicia teased.

Nikki laughed and blushed, "hey now, we all looked at them together okay?"

"That's fair," Natalya laughed.

"Hey, guys, new subject," Bayley interrupted the laughter, "what's at catering?"

"Uh, chicken I think?" Renee said, surprised at the sudden change.

"Ooh I am starving," Charly noticed the out and went for it.

"Let's go," Bayley nodded for her to follow, "Sash you done showing off?"

"Never," she said with a chuckle. "Bye guys!"

The three of them walked to catering, Sasha and Bayley chatting about something else and Charly listened quietly. It wasn't until they sat down with their dinners that she finally said something about what had happened.

"You know," she said with a tilt of her head, "it's really nice that you guys are trying to sell me on Seth,"

Sasha paused and looked over to Bayley, "all of that stuff, it's not the full picture-oh bad choice of words- it's not all there is to him."

"Yeah," Charly nodded, "I'm getting that."

"And he seems to really like you," Bayley admitted.

"You don't think it's just about the sex?"

"No way," Bayley shook her head. "Seth doesn't work this hard for sex."

"He doesn't have to," Sasha laughed nervously. "Uh, because he…has a lot of fans…"

"Guys it's okay," Charly smiled, "reputations don't come from thin air."

"Yeah you're right. But underneath it all, he's an okay guy."

"Great taste in music," said Bayley, sipping her smoothie.

"Pretty good listener most of the time," Sasha added.

"Awesome moveset in 2k17."

"Understands how to use conditioner."

Bayley paused and thought for a second, "can be a little flighty."

"and his laugh is really terrible,"

"Oh yeah, really awful," Bayley nodded.

"Guys," Charly cut in, "thanks for the pro-con list, but I think I'll figure it out myself."

"Smart choice."

Charly laughed, "so everyone has seen those pictures huh?"

"It was before we got here but, yeah," Sasha shrugged sympathetically, "seems so. Have you?"

"I saw they exist but I've never actually seen them.

"Sounds like you won't need them," Sasha teased and Charly laughed.

"We'll see."

"Sasha showed them to me," Bayley interjected.

"I wasn't going to suffer through that alone!" Sasha flipped her hair, "they showed up on my Tumblr dash. And so did the alleged ones."

"The alleged ones?" Charly pressed.

"Yeah, a few months ago some screenshots surfaced of a guy who looked a lot like Seth sexting with someone. Never confirmed nor denied."

"So confirmed, basically," Charly said.

Bayley shrugged, "you could say that. If it was, he kept his face out of it for once."

"At least he learned."

"How was the sexting?" Charly asked despite better judgment.

"Uhh," Sasha thought for a moment, "words needed work but the pics were less cringe-worthy."

"Yeah, the first batch were a little unflattering huh?" Bayley nodded. "Probably on purpose."

"Yeah probably, I mean, look, it was all really shitty. Especially Seth's role in it," Sasha fixed her eyes towards Charly, "but that must've been so humiliating. And then the second time? Doesn't make me think he's choosing women who actually care about him."

"We'll try to change that," Charly chuckled, "maybe."

The three of them laughed together, and beyond Seth and his thinly veiled flirting, it was the first time she really felt comfortable at Raw.

"Well I don't like the way **this** looks," Seth was behind them suddenly, taking the seat on the other side of Bayley. "I don't like this at all."

"The girls were just talking you up, actually," Charly told him.

"Yeah! Mostly…" Sasha laughed guiltily.

"I knew it," Seth shook his head, "don't let them corrupt you."

"I mean, use of conditioner was mentioned, that's a high compliment."

He glared at them jokingly, "I hate both of you, now scram."

"See you later, Charly," Bayley said as her and Sasha left giggling.

Seth looked back to her, sighing. "My conditioner game is on point but still."

"Those girls are really sweet,"

"Don't you dare get in with them. I don't think I can handle that."

"They love you."

"Yeah well, I kind of love them too," he laughed, wondering how she got him to open up so effortlessly, "you know I never had sisters."

"Until now?"

"Until those two started ruining my life."

"Yeah sounds like sisters to me."

"I'm not usually this mushy," he said with a side glance.

"Mhmm I tend to have that effect on people."

"Might be those beautiful eyes of yours."

"My eyes?" she giggled, "Really?"

"They're…kind. Bet that's how you get all of us to spill our secrets in your interviews."

"It helps. Depends on the person, you get good at reading them."

"Is that why you used the bedroom eyes on me?"

She smiled smugly, biting her lip, "didn't quite work."

"Oh, they worked plenty, trust me."

"Did they now?"

"You want proof?" he crossed his arms.

"Not tonight," she pushed her chair out, "I have to head to the preshow, but good luck."

"Can I see you tonight? Come out to celebrate?"

"Maybe," she smirked again, "see ya."

XXX

"Charly, Charly, beautiful Charly, you made it!" he slurred later that night in the hotel bar, drunkenly pulling out a chair for her.

"And I'm behind apparently. Hey Roman, Xavier, E. Where's Kofi?"

"Catching up on sleep before he goes back to the baby. Smart man."

"What do you want?" Seth asked her, still a little stumbling, "Drinks on me tonight."

"Oh, you don't have to-"

"No, no, I ate the pin, I pay for drinks, that's just the rules," he eyed her, "another margarita? Or like, 3?"

"To keep up with him, you might need it," Xavier said with a laugh, he also sounded a little bit drunk.

"Let's start with one, thanks,"

"You're gonna have to order it unless you want it to come out all wrong," he nodded for her to follow her to the bar.

"Sorry that didn't turn out how you wanted," she said softly as they waited for the bartender.

He looked over at her, "yeah me too."

"It wasn't your fault,"

"Charly, no offense, but you have absolutely no idea what it's like in there."

"Okay," she held up her hands and shut her mouth.

He sighed, "I didn't-that came out wrong."

"It's fine," she pushed forward and ordered her drink, her back to him.

In a moment of possibly scotch-fueled bravery, he reached out and took her hand.

"Hey, I'm sorry, I'm just upset."

"I would be too,"

He smiled at her, their eyes locked until the bartender broke their gaze with her drink.

"Tab's Rollins? Thanks man." He kept his hand on the small of her back, pushing her gently through the crowd and back to their table.

Charly went light on the drinking despite the fact that the boys were ordering drink after drink. She really didn't feel a need to keep up with them, not a show to do tomorrow. It was clear that Seth was upset about the match, more so than Roman even. Maybe it was because he was the last one down, or maybe he just felt like he still had something to prove. That seemed to be a thing with him, he always had something to prove, he even had to prove that he could get her. Roman eventually cut him off a couple hours and few drinks later, once Seth's stumbling became unavoidable.

"Alright, Seth, time for bed," Roman said sternly in a voice that he probably used with his young daughter.

"Nooo we have to get the tater tots," he protested.

"You can't order tater tots, the kitchen is closed. The bar is closing, Seth." Roman met Charly's gaze and rolled his eyes. "If I get him up there, will you take over?"

"Oh uh, sure," she followed Roman as he all but picked Seth up and let him lean against Roman's broad shoulders.

"Thanks, oof," he dragged his stumbling friend towards the elevators. "I've held Seth's hair while he barfed one too many times."

"I'm not sure we're that close," she said with a laugh as Roman wrangled Seth from trying to push all the buttons on the elevator.

"Yeah?" Roman said suspiciously, "seems like he might want to be."

"Wha?" Seth asked drunkenly, "you talking about me?"

"Yes, you're obvious." Roman shook his head and looked back to Charly, "he'll listen to you."

Pushing Seth through the door of his room, Roman wrangled Seth onto the king sized bed. Seth flopped down, babbling about something incoherently, but stopped once his head hit the pillow.

"I am very sleepy," he slurred.

"Yeah, cause you're drunk," Roman shook his head again, "he's all yours," he said to Charly, "don't worry, he only gets handsy with dudes when he's like this."

"Thanks, she laughed," pulling his shoes off. Roman tipped his head to her as he closed the door behind him and left the two of them alone.

"1-10 how embarrassing is this for me right now?" he managed, watching her bring him a bottle of water from the mini-fridge.

"A 10 I hope. Sit up," she sat to the side of him as he just barely pulled himself up on his elbows.

"Thanks," he mumbled, taking a long sip of water.

"Just don't barf, we're not that good of friends."

He grabbed her arm as she moved away, "we're friends?"

"I'd say so,"

His special sense was off, but it seemed good enough to pull her in close to his face.

"I don' wanna be friends," he stammered, "I wanna be- **more** than friends."

Charly chuckled, he was almost childish but she didn't really mind. It was just nice to see him vulnerable and open for once, even if it came with him struggling to form a sentence.

"Yeah, me too," she whispered. Seth grinned and looked into her eyes. He almost looked like he was thinking about doing it, but she pulled away, pushing him down by his shoulders. "But I'll never forgive you if you kiss me like this."

"Duly noted," he curled up on the bedspread, holding one of the pillows in his arms. "What about if I take off my pants?"

She rolled her eyes, looking through his bag for Advil to leave on his side table. When he started making strange noises, struggling with his tight skinny jeans, she sighed and pulled from the ankles.

"You're a mess, Rollins," she said as they slid off.

He caught her though, her eyes grazing over the bulge in his black boxer briefs. She looked away quickly, but it was already too late.

"Sorry for my 'ndecency," he stumbled, smirking and meeting her eye with a lusty stare, "that's just what you do to me."

"What I do?" she challenged.

"Your mere existen-" he tried to finish the thought but was already drifting off. She smiled to herself as she pulled his plastic glasses off the bridge of his nose. He stirred, "beautiful Charly," he slurred, "don't go."

"You have everything you need?"

"I'll miss you," he grumbled.

"Goodnight, Seth," she kissed the top of his forehead, and in an instant, he was snoring.

XXX

Roman pounded on his door in the early morning the next day.

"Rise and shine, brotha!" he grinned as Seth opened the door.

"Ugggh, why?" He groaned.

"We can go get coffee."

"and food?"

"And food."

"Alright, " groggily he pulled on a change of clothes and grabbed his wallet.

"Charly take good care of you last night?" Roman asked as they made their way to the Starbucks next door.

"Dude I can't believe you did that to me."

Roman laughed heartily, "so yes?"

"I probably made a giant ass of myself."

"She seemed happy to do it."

Seth groaned, "I'm trying to make some progress here."

"If she can put up with drunk you, she's already sold."

"I woke up without my pants."

"Even better. Doesn't get much worse than that."

"She thinks I'm an idiot."

"You are an idiot," he laughed, taking a table in the corner of the coffee shop, "She should love you for you."

Seth rolled his eyes, "I have no idea where I stand with her and now she's seen me without pants, so thanks."

"I didn't take off your pants. I think I know what's going on here, my little girl is going through the same thing."

"You're the worst."

"See, there's this boy who she likes because on the first day of school he shared his colored pencils. So she decided one day to kiss him on the playground, now I don't know where she learned **that** , but then the next day he was totally ignoring her. So now I got a crying baby girl on my hands because she's confused and doesn't know if he likes her back and I said 'maybe you should just ask him, be upfront about it' and she told me that she thought kissing him on the playground was upfront and-"

"Ro," Seth cut in, "you know I love your dad monologues but was this about me at some point?"

"Right. I just think instead of playing games and wondering if she likes you back, you should just go for it."

"I see,"

"And also you're a nine-year-old. That was the other point."

"Yeah I got that part."

"Oh okay, good. Look, I know you over-analyze when you fall for a girl, but just relax. She wouldn't have stuck around if she didn't want to."

"I wasn't wearing pants."

"Maybe she liked what saw," Roman said with a tip of his coffee cup and Seth laughed, rolling his eyes at the whole ordeal.


	6. Chapter 6

By the time Seth got to the arena, he was in a mood. His head was just starting to stop pounding, but his body still ached from some of the moves he took last night. He knew he'd eventually have to face Charly and his multiple party-fouls from the night before, but he had bigger fish to fry. Knocking on the door labeled _Stephanie McMahon_ , he took a deep breath and tried to ignore it all.

"Come in," she called, and as he opened the door she snickered, "Seth, what a surprise. Uh, leave that open."

Annoyed, he pushed the door open and it took everything in his power not to roll his eyes. Sitting down on the chair opposite where she was sitting, he scoffed, "he even here tonight?"

"That's not the point."

"Whatever, I don't care. Do I have my match tonight or what?"

"Your match," she said, crossing her legs and leaning back in her chair, "well, Team Raw was unsuccessful last night."

"That was a group failure"

"But you took the final pin. You cost us that match."

"Oh don't bullshit me Steph," he leaped to his feet, "we had an agreement, Hunter said if my ego cost the match it was off. Well, it didn't, your former golden boy Randy Orton cost us it."

"You failed us."

"That's fucking great, but I'm still owed what I'm owed."

"Don't shout Seth, haven't you learned that by now?"

"Give me my match, Steph."

"I'm just questioning if you've really earned it."

"You think I don't know what this is about? I get it, you're upset, I'm…" he sighed looking at her straight with softened eyes. Quietly he said, "I'm sorry. I'm really, really sorry. You're welcome to tell everyone I came on to you."

"But you did come on to me," she said with a quiet laugh.

"You can say I pushed you into it if it makes it easier on you."

She half laughed, half scoffed at him. "Why the sudden change of heart?"

"I just…I think it's the right thing to do. You have more to lose."

"We should deny it."

"That's fine too, whatever you want, Steph."

She looked at him for a second, her eyes narrowed. "I'll tell Mick to book your match, but it's no DQ."

"Deal," he headed for the door without another glance back towards her.

"Close the door on your way out," she called after him and he pulled it shut, looking straight ahead.

Mick announced the match early in the show, banning both Chris and Roman from ringside. Seth breathed easier, seeing his opportunity within his grasp. Watching a monitor, Charly was interviewing Kevin, who was confused by the fact that she was not Renee Young. She looked mystified, those two had been giving her a hard time since she had gotten to Raw. The segment cut away and he sighed, he knew she around the corner by the locker rooms and debated finding her. It turned out to be a moot point, though, as he heard the click of high heels coming down the way. When she rounded the corner, he couldn't help but redden.

"Those two giving you crap?" he asked, trying to keep it cool.

She took a seat next to him, crossing her legs gracefully, "I can take it."

"Yeah well, you shouldn't have to,"

"Yeah well," she laughed.

"Um I-I'm not totally clear on the specifics, but I think I probably owe ya an apology."

Charly chuckled softly and she looked up into his eyes, "It's okay. You didn't barf."

"Oh! That's good. Everything is a bit of a blur and then I had really trippy dreams,"

"Scotch'll do that," she teased, her eyes glimmering.

"I'm sorry if I said anything…inappropriate."

"You were actually pretty well behaved."

He sighed, "that's a relief"

"Until you took off your pants."

"Oh," he felt his face flushing again from the pieces of memory from the past night. "Was it bad?"

"Just something about my mere existence," she giggled deviously as he buried his face in his hands.

"Oh god, that was real?"

"Yup," she grinned, "you were a mess."

"I am very, very sorry."

"At least you have the decency to be embarrassed."

"Trust me, I am. So um, I babbled about wanting tater tots?"

"That you did,"

"I get so hungry when I drink. And uh, I tried to get you to stay?"

"Almost worked too, but not quite."

"And then Seth Green was there and he was cutting a promo on me for having the same name?"

"Okay, **that** was a dream."

"Good, it was humiliating," he laughed with her, his heart racing knowing what he had to ask her next. He dropped his voice low, "and me telling you I wanted to be more than friends?"

She smiled softly, "really happened."

He nodded, "and you saying you wanted that too?"

"Also real." She held his gaze, fixated for a moment. The heat between them was so thick he felt like he could've cut it with a knife. Her eyes glimmered flirtatiously, like she was enjoying it deeply. Eventually, she looked up at the monitor and softly said, "you should probably go get ready."

Following her eyes, he saw they were 2 segments ahead of his main event.

"Yeah…"

"Good luck,"

He looked back at her and couldn't help but smile, "thank you."

XXX

Back in his hotel room that night, he kicked the side of his suitcase. Goddamn Chris Jericho. He just couldn't let it be, could he? He had to stick his stupid nose where it didn't belong and get involved with Kevin's match, again. And the coward didn't even have the courage to run down to the ring out in the open. It was a no DQ, Steph and placed that in there specifically for him to abuse. She didn't want to see the belt back on Seth anymore than Chris did. But no, he had to put on a stupid Sin Cara mask and come in through the crowd. What a jerk.

He had that too, that was his match. Kevin had gone soft since allying himself with Chris and the Authority. Seth had seen it before, the same thing had happened to Randy and to him. It was so easy, you didn't have to be at the top of your game every night, you just had to do well enough for yourself. Those days were behind Seth. He'd made sure once Hunter turned on him that he'd prove he never needed them in the first place. He worked harder, he stayed in the gym longer, he planned and he plotted out every single match he had. It paid off, the past few months of training like that, tonight showed him he could still be that guy. The Architect of the Shield, smart and crafty, fearless and unstoppable.

When he stood up in the stands looking down at Kevin, he felt like that guy again. Adrenaline rushed through his veins. He was terrified all the way up there, and he didn't care. When he jumped off, he remembered how spots like this made him feel, what he imagined flying must feel like. Time slowed and he felt almost weightless.

Then up on the barricade, he could feel it. Kevin's days were numbered. All he had to do was hit this splash and pull Kevin into the ring. He'd walk out as Universal Champion. But just as he got his balance, he felt himself tumbling to the floor. Something in his gut knew exactly what had happened before it was even apparent. Goddamn Chris Jerricho.

Seth was so caught up in his ranting thoughts that he didn't even realize he had been staring at his stubbed toe for so long until a knock came at his door. Snapping out of it, he opened the door and chuckled. Charly was standing in front of him, jeans and a v-neck, holding a large paper bag.

"Hi," he said smoothly, though he could hear the strain in his voice. She didn't even say anything, just pulled out a bottle of scotch from the bag and tilted her head. "Well then. Come on in,"

She giggled and followed him in, placing the scotch down and looking for glasses from the mini bar.

"I figured you'd be a little down after tonight."

"Yeah, you figured right," he watched her pour them each a glass of scotch, memorizing her every movement. He felt a pang deep in his stomach that was getting harder and harder to ignore.

"So I thought you might want some company,"

She placed the scotch bottle down, and suddenly his legs were carrying him faster than his brain could process. He was right up against her, she turned around feeling his body and he laced his fingers in her hair, pulling her into a kiss. Her hand found his cheek, pressing back on his lips. They were soft but demanding, they knew what they wanted. It felt so good to finally know what this was like. He ran his tongue along her bottom lip and she parted them, letting him deepen the kiss. She coyly pulled back and reposition her lips every so often, coming up for air just to intensify it. After a long, incredible kiss, he broke apart and wrapped his arms around her tiny waist and pressed his lips to the crook of her neck.

"Seth, Seth," she giggled, arching her back and pushing him back by his chest. "Just a kiss."

He sighed, it was never going to be that simple. But he smiled and nodded, "just a kiss."

Stealing another quick one, he chuckled as she jumped slightly and picked up the scotch glasses.

"That was just a kiss too," Seth smirked.

He handed one to Charly and plopped down on the couch. She followed, her cheeks still flushed from their kiss, and took a big swig of her drink. Seth chuckled and she rolled her eyes.

"I didn't come here for that."

"Of course not," he raised an eyebrow, "called spontaneity."

"Yeah, yeah." She leaned back against the cushions. "Are you okay?"

"Gotta tell you, Char, I'm doing much better now."

"I'm serious."

He chuckled, she was sweet, if not a little pushy.

"I'm furious. I am so damn furious at Chris, and Kevin, and Stephanie," he ran his fingers through his hair, "But I am better now that you're here with me."

"And scotch."

"And scotch!" he took a long swig. She was eyeing him for a moment and he bit his lip before asking, "what?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, you and everyone else."

"We don't have to-"

"No, no, you wanna know. It's gonna cost you another kiss."

Charly met his eye and laughed, she placed her scotch down on the table and crawled across the couch. With a hand on his knee, she leaned in and pressed her lips to his softly. Pulling back she looked him in the eye.

"Go on," he whispered

She looked down nervously but eventually spoke up, "is it true about you and Stephanie?"

"Yes."

He saw her breath catch.

"Oh."

"Sorry to disappoint you,"

"I didn't say that."

"You didn't have to," he tipped back his head again, finishing off his glass and placing it down on the table. "I slept with Stephanie McMahon, you're allowed to be disappointed in me."

She sighed, "why?"

"Why?"

"Why'd you do it?"

There it was again. He was about to give her the same bullshit he gave Sasha when he paused. She was looking at him with those kind eyes again, the look that made him feel like he could tell her anything and somehow, someway, she would understand.

"I loved her."

"Oh."

"I uh," he pulled his shirt up to his nose like he did when he was nervous and then let it go, "I've never told anyone that. Anyone but her."

"What'd she say?"

He chuckled, " 'Rollins get out of my office' and I said no, and she said 'how dare you disobey me?' and well, the affair restarted...on the couch."

"You really don't take no for an answer huh?"

"I am really, really stubborn."

"And you want what you can't have. That's what it was about, wasn't it? She was unattainable and so you needed her."

"Yeah," he sighed, leaning against the back of the couch. "I guess you could say that. And it felt so good that she wanted me too. Someone so brilliant and beautiful with the perfect life and what she wanted was me? It was unreal."

Charly nodded but didn't say anything, letting him spill his guts before he could even stop himself.

"I know it was wrong."

"It was. But you loved her."

"Yeah…and nothing else mattered."

"Are you…are you still hung up on her?"

"No. I swear I'm not Charly. How can I be? She's not mine. And she shouldn't be. I don't want her to pack a bag and leave Hunter and the kids. It would've destroyed her life, I don't want that for her. I don't want that for me."

"So then what was your end game?"

"There was no end game. There was just the moment…and her.

"I take it she ended things?"

"Yeah," he sighed, reliving that conversation in the hotel bed. "She came to her senses and dumped me."

"Sorry."

"That my affair ended?" he chuckled.

"Still. It must've hurt."

He met her eye. She was endlessly thoughtful, how did she do that?

"It was killer. But we got away with it and she was safe. Until…"

"Night of Champions."

"Yep," he nodded, "he found evidence and made sure I paid for it."

"I'm sorry," she said okay.

"You probably think I got what was coming to me, huh?"

"A little. But I also think you lost your mentor after already losing the woman you loved."

"Jeez, Char, you're way too easy on me."

"Oh don't get me wrong, I think it was a terrible thing to do. And you obviously have some fidelity problems."

"Well, you can put that on the con list."

"But you've got a big heart, Seth, any fool should be able to see that."

"Not any fool," he said softly, "but I know one."

She smiled and blushed, looking down and playing with a ring on her index finger.

"C'mere," he opened his arms and smiling, she curled up against his body, resting her head on his chest. "I'm sorry," he said after a moment, "if I let you down here."

Charly shook her head, "you don't owe me anything."

"I can do better."

"I know."

"I can be better."

"I know, Seth, I know," she tilted her head up and kissed him again.

"Let me guess, just a kiss?"

"Just a kiss."


	7. Chapter 7

Waking up in his arms was nearly perfect, though the buttons of her jeans hand pressed into her skin, leaving reddened imprints. Her lower back was screaming from the unnatural position of sleeping side by side on the couch, but still, as his beard tickled her cheek, she had no desire to move. He stirred as her alarm started ringing, groggily scooting out of from under her arm. Seth eyed her with a smile as she fixed her hair and wiped some mascara from under her eyes. She checked the hallway and slipped out with a shy smile and snuck back up to her room unnoticed. The last thing she needed was it getting around that she had spent the night in his bedroom, sex or not.

Charly was surprised at how little Seth's approach changed after their kiss. Almost like he felt he'd won a battle but not the war. He was still in proper chase mode, just with the addition of finding ways to get her to kiss him throughout the week. Unsuccessfully, for the most part. She was starting to wonder when he'd feel satisfied. When she let him kiss her anytime he wanted? When she slept with him? When she let him take her to dinner? Or maybe he would never be satisfied, just eventually get bored. She had to know that was always a possibility with a guy like Seth.

Monday morning, she headed to the hotel gym, pulling her hair into a stub of a ponytail as she walked. It was a busy time for the gym, with a few of the talent squeezing in workouts before the show. Stepping onto one of the elliptical machines, she glanced up to see Seth in the mirror, setting himself up with weights. He caught her eye and winked, but didn't come over or say anything. Charly laughed to herself, put in her headphones and started her jog. Not long after, Sasha jumped on the machine next to her, waving.

"Hey," Charly grinned, "how's it going?"

"Not too bad, this is a good crowd tonight."

"Yeah, I've heard. Looking forward to it."

Sasha smiled and looked ahead, she laughed suddenly, "I think that's for you."

"What?" Charly looked up at the reflection of Seth, he was going hard on his modified pull-ups and had conveniently lost his shirt. He grunted as he kicked his legs up, flexing his abs and making faces. His shorts slid up a little bit as he squeezed them to his chest. She laughed, "oh that's for me?"

"He's such a show-off," Sasha snickered

"That he is," she bit her lip lightly.

If he really was showing off for her, he was doing a good job. He dropped down after a few reps, transitioning into a deep squat and she found herself wishing she were behind him instead. Standing up, Seth breathed heavily and shook out his hands, meeting her eye in the mirror. He tipped his head and raised his eyebrows, it made Charly's cheeks flush a bit and she heard Sasha snickering next to her.

"At least it's working."

"No idea what you're talking about."

"He needs a lot of attention."

"I've noticed," Charly said, watching as Seth started another set of pull-ups. He looked her in the eye squeezing his legs up and winked. It sent a pulse of wanting throughout her body. He was right about one thing: he definitely knew his strengths.

XXX

"Chris?" Charly chased after Chris Jericho later at the show, the camera crew on her tail. "Excuse me, Chris? Last week on The Highlight Reel we saw you and Kevin pretend you were ending your friendship. Was the confrontation out there a joke or is it real this time?"

He glared at her, "a joke? A joke? How dare you. No it wasn't a joke! If Kevin Owens doesn't need me, I don't need Kevin Owens. Got it? Now Get out of here. I said go!"

She jumped a bit at his shout. Usually, an interviewee freaking out was a minor occurrence, only happening when the situation was particularly volatile. Here it happened nearly every show, the wrestlers had absolutely no problem unloading their shit on her. Charly scurried off, not wanting to deal with it anymore.

Across the arena, Seth decided to take things into his own hands. He'd been keeping out of sight, for the most part, everyone always treated you differently when you weren't medically cleared. They all had the same fears of losing their careers to injury. He'd snuck around to the parking garage after watching Chris' interview end with him yelling at her for doing her damn job. Who did he think he was?

And now he was yelling at the driver for no reason. People thought Seth was full of himself? At least he knew how to treat others with respect.

"Am I on the list?" Seth called to Chris, who turned around very slowly before bolting. "Oh no you don't."

He headed Chris off and started wailing on him. All of his frustrations came pouring out. The bullshit of his title match, getting pinned last for his team at Survivor Series, Stephanie's mind games, the way Chris and Jericho paraded around the place, and the way they talked to Charly. Maybe that's what put him over the edge, feeling the need to punch Chris square in the mouth. She was sweet and kind and good at her job. Why the hell would they treat her that way? No matter what Chris meant by it, he was paying for it. He paid for it all over the parking lot, against rental cars and the pavement, and finally on the roof of one of the vehicles as he was Pedigreed straight into it.

Seth stood and dusted himself off, feeling high off of the release of everything that had been pent up inside of him. He didn't realize how tightly he'd been holding on to all of that until it was out of his system. It felt good to get it all out.

Charly had another interview, this time with Kevin. He yelled at her too, seemed to be the trend today.

"Really? I've seen what happens to people when you interview them. We had a fight, okay? But Chris Jericho is still my best friend and he might be at some medical facility and I'm not by his side. So just leave me alone alright?"

"O-okay," she backed up, handing her mic back to the camera crew as they cut and went off for the next segment. She started to hurry off from Kevin's glares, but a voice stopped her.

"Hey Kevin," it was Seth's from behind her, "your boy's fine,"

She turned around, Seth was dragging a disheveled Chris by his collar.

"What did you do to him?" Kevin tried to jump to his feet, though he was obviously in a bad way from his match with Roman.

"Nothing, nothing, we just had a little chat. Charly, Chris has something he'd like to say," he tightened his grip, "doesn't he?"

Chris glared at him, but cleared his throat, "uh, I am sorry that I yelled."

"And?" Seth grumbled.

"And for making your job harder."

"And?"

"And for being a general…dickwad to you all the time."

"Ha ha ha that's right. Here," he pushed him towards Kevin who caught him in an embrace, "unless you would like to be next?"

"Let's go, Chris," Kevin pulled him away, glaring at Seth down the hall.

"Better?" he looked down at her with a grin, but Charly's face wasn't grateful. It was mortified.

"You…beat him up… for me?" she stammered out.

"Well, for you, for me. The apology was definitely an extra bonus. He needed to be taught a lesson."

"With your fists?" Her eyes were wide.

"You don't seem happy?" He looked at her confused, he'd thought she'd be glad Chris got what was coming to him after the way he talked to her.

"You… hit him."

"This is my world Char, it's how we settle things. And I settled it for you."

"Ooh," she nodded, "I see what's happening here."

"What?"

"This is like when a cat brings home a garden snake or a mouse that they killed and lay it down for you all proud of themselves."

"They do that? That's horrible."

"Yeah, it's how they show affection, even though we think it's horrible."

"Wait, am I the cat here?"

She giggled, "trying to show your affection by bringing me a dead mouse? Sounds about right."

"And you think it's horrible?"

"Just a little"

"Oh...Are you mad?"

"No," she looked up at him, "as long as you don't solve all your problems that way."

"Only the wrestling ones, I promise."

"Well. They say you can't scold your cat over it because it's so hardwired into the instincts that it like, traumatizes them."

"Oh now, can't be doing that to me. Learning you're a cat person is bad enough."

"Is that a deal breaker?" she teased, "you're supposed to reward them even though it's gross because they do it for your love and it's confusing if you don't reciprocate."

"Reward them? Is that so?" he smirked and grabbed her hand, pulling her towards a supply closet.

"Seth!" she squealed, looking around nervously.

"No one's around," once inside he pushed her against the door with his body. He was warm as his fingertips ran up and down her arms. His lips teased her skin. "Tell me you haven't been thinking about this all week."

"I have another segment-"

"We'll be quick," he trailed kisses over her cheeks and neck.

"Seth we-"

"Did I make you hot this morning?" he teased, she sighed, he had her and he knew it. He snickered, grazing his lips over hers, "just a kiss."

"Just one?"

"Or two…" he pressed his lips to hers, "or three,"

She pulled him in this time, her hands tangled in his hair. The kiss deepened, getting more and more intense. Their lips smacked against each other as they moved about. His hands wandered over her waist and arms, steering clear of anywhere too dirty. Her tongue pressed against hers and he returned the pressure, sliding his along her lower lip until she moaned into his mouth. He slid down to her neck, pressing hot kisses onto the most sensitive spot on the nape of her neck.

"Oh Seth-"

"Shhh," he kissed her deeply, "do I need to preoccupy that pretty little mouth of yours?"

Charly pulled him in again, rougher this time, wrapping her leg around his. She kept her moans down, but it was a struggle, his lips were incredible. He was right, she'd been wanting him. It was getting harder and harder every day to resist him. She loved playing hard to get, but he wasn't making it easy for her. His hands ran up the sides of her torso, but didn't push his luck.

"You're after a proper reward?" she whispered.

His eyes flickered up, intrigued, "what'd you have in mind?"

She placed her hands around his wrists and gently guided him to the front of her chest. He smiled smugly, running his thumbs over her as she bit her lip to keep from moaning. Kissing him again, he squeezed and she gasped a little.

"Ha ha ha, easy, beautiful. That ain't nothing. I could show you,"

"Not here," she mumbled, enjoying the feeling of him pushing her up in his hands.

"Anytime you want it," he moaned with a quick pinch of her nipples. "Just a little fun, huh?

"Just fun." She pulled him in roughly for a long kiss.

"We should get out of here before someone notices we're missing."

Whimpering, she grazed his lips, begging for another.

"Don't pout," he whispered in her ear, "I'm at your beck and call. Just say the word."

"Where's the fun in that?"

"Oh trust me," he kissed that sensitive spot in her neck again, "it's plenty fun."

XXX

Seth hung out in the back the rest of the night, watching her on the monitor go about the rest of her interviews. She hid it well, but he could see the bit of glow in her smile. Their little heated session in the closet had left him floating too, and she was grinning in every segment she appeared in. It was nice to know that he could put her in such a good mood. There was so much else he had yet to show her. He loved the chase, but damn if it didn't feel good to get her.

Roman sat down next to him, "he looks pissed."

He nodded over to the other side of the room. Chris was glaring at him, an ice pack on his eye.

Seth snickered "I beat him up and made him apologize to Charly earlier."

"Wow. Who says romance is dead?"

"Can you not? It's not like that."

"It's not like that my ass. You admitted you were trying to make some progress there."

"Yeah I shouldn't have done that, clearly."

"Have you made any?"

"I'm not answering that."

"Fine."

"Please don't tell anyone."

"Why would I do that?"

"I don't know," he shrugged, "just don't, okay? Charly doesn't want my reputation following her."

"So you've talked about it?"

"Ro. C'mon."

"Alllright. She's cute by the way."

"Yeah, I've noticed."

"You playin' games?" he raised an eyebrow.

"Why are you so concerned with this?"

"Because," he leaned back in his chair, "I want you to be happy. And I haven't seen you happy since **that** mess."

Seth sighed and looked over at him, "she makes me happy."

"Good. Don't fuck it up."

"Sage advice as always."

XXX

Seth caught up with her later that night in the hotel talking to the reception desk.

"Charly, Charly," he said, leaning up against a table in the middle of the lobby.

"Hi Seth," she smiled at him, headed for the elevator. He quickly took off after her.

"Looked like Mark Henry was a little better to you,"

"Well maybe he saw what you did to Chris," she said with a little chuckle, stepping onto the elevator.

"Smart man. So," he took a step towards her as the doors shut and lowered his voice, nice and smooth, "can I get a goodnight kiss over here?"

She held gaze steady, biting her lip. He could feel that heat building between the two of them again. The elevator dinged and she turned her head.

"This is me," smirking she stepped off, "Goodnight, Seth,"

The doors closed behind her and he groaned. So she wasn't done with making him work for it then. Back in his room, pulled off his shirt and took out his contacts, replacing them with his thick glasses. He shook his hair out and started to detangle the knots that had formed throughout the night. As he did, a knock came at the door.

Brow furrowed, he opened it and laughed seeing Charly in the hallway. She slipped in and closed it behind her.

"I changed my mind," she murmured, pulling him into a kiss by his neck.


	8. Chapter 8

"You've got to have more confidence with it," Seth said to the girl opposite him in the ring. "You've got this, I promise."

He smiled at her and the girl, a Tough Enough contestant named Mandy, returned it. She took a deep breath and nodded, she looked terrified. High flying wasn't really in her blood, he could tell the idea of spinning around like that was scaring her.

"It's not that big of a deal, John Cena can do it, and he's afraid of heights."

Mandy laughed at that.

"Again?"

She nodded and he got into position. Running towards him, she jumped up, squeezing his neck between her thighs. He held on as she pulled him down, and he flipped his body over to help her complete the Hurricarana. His back hit the mat and he leaned his head back, catching his breath.

"Better."

"Was it?" she asked, pulling herself to her feet.

"Yeah, definitely," he sat up and rolled his neck, "much better. Landing's a little rough but,"

"Sorry, did I hurt you?"

"Ha ha ha, I'll survive,"

"Okay," she nodded, still looking nervous at her performance.

"Look," he sighed, "I know it's easy to listen to all the things people say, but trust me, it's just noise. Block it out and stay the course."

"Yeah it is, it's, well," she shook her head, "thanks, Seth."

"Just work hard. That's all you have to do."

"Can she work hard after a lunch break?" Said a smirking voice behind them.

Seth turned to see the smiling face of one of his friends, her arms leaning on the apron.

"Ember!" he grinned. "Hey girl,"

"Hey girl yourself. Lunch?"

"Uh, you good?" he asked Mandy.

"Yeah I'm fine. Thanks again."

"Sure," he ducked out of the ring, and hopped down to meet Ember on the outside of one of the Performance Center rings. "How **are** you? I haven't seen you in forever."

"I'm good, I'm getting reps," she started leading the way towards the parking lot. "Chopped salads or are you in vacation mode?"

"I'm here for a night," he chuckled, "salads it is."

"Alright. Hey, answer me this," she looked over her shoulder, pulling out of the space.

"What?"

"How is it anytime you come down here you always end up working with the ladies?"

Seth laughed, leaning his head back against the headrest of the passenger seat.

"Oh I think that's just a coincidence," but he smirked. She wasn't wrong.

"Yeah right, you're not that lucky. Every single time?"

"C'mon," he unbuckled his seatbelt as they pulled into the parking lot of a nearby strip mall, "it's not so bad. It's how you and me met."

"Yeah, cause I was training with a gaggle of girls."

"And, and because I watched you in Shimmer."

"And because you love women."

"And because I love women," he laughed and rolled his eyes. "Honestly? I've found it…difficult recently to make friends with the boys I'm directly competing with. I like hanging out with you guys more."

"Yeah, well," she moved her dark hair behind her ear, "all of them think you're a massive flirt."

"Why would they think that?"

"Uh I don't know, maybe because you are?"

"Ha ha ha, so who's they then? Mandy, Aliyah-"

"Liv, Petyon, Billie, Charly-"

"Charly?" his head snapped towards Ember.

"Yeah I mean, she's around sometimes."

"I thought she was on Raw permanently?"

"She is but they have her doing some NXT dates, she lives in town, you know."

"Oh." He tried to play it cool. "No, I didn't know that."

"Why?"

"What?"

Her eyes narrowed, "why do you care about Charly being in that group?"

"I don't. I just wasn't thinking that she was still working in NXT."

"You think about her?" Ember asked with a smirk.

"Ugh, Em. If I buy you lunch will you drop it?"

"Oh most definitely."

XXX

Later, he sat in his car, parked in the lot of the Performance Center, flipping his phone in his hands. _Be cool Rollins. Be cool._

It rang for a minute, but finally, the sweet voice on the other end filled his ears.

"Hello?"

"Charly, Charly."

"Hi Seth," she chuckled, he could hear a coy little smile in her voice. "What do I owe the pleasure?"

"Well, you know, I'm sitting in the parking lot of the Performance Center,"

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, I come down every few months, help out the younger talent, you know, bestow my knowledge."

"How charitable of you."

"I'm a regular philanthropist. But anyway I was sitting here and I thought to myself, don't I know someone who lives in Orlando?"

"You might," she laughed again. "Nice of you to think of me."

"So how about it?" he smoothed out his voice carefully, "what're you doing tonight?"

"I'm sorry, Seth, I sort of have plans for tonight."

"What, you got another hot date?"

"Kind of, yeah,"

"Wait really?" he said, taken aback, imagining her at her bathroom mirror, wearing one of those tight dresses and holding the phone between her ear and shoulder as she curled her hair.

"Yeah, for real this time. I didn't know you were in town."

"And you'd have actually gone out with me if you did?"

"I'd have met you for a drink, sure."

"So cancel on this cheesy dude and do it."

"Seth."

"It's one text."

"I can't do that."

"Why, who is he?"

She sighed, "it's a blind date, but it's about the principle. Plus, he's one of my friend's co-workers."

"He sounds boring. What is he, like a sales manager?"

"He's a cop," she said matter of factly.

"Like your dad," he could hear the bitterness in his voice and it made him feel pathetic.

"Yeah, like my dad. Look I'm sorry but, tonight's just not good."

"Okay," he sighed, "but call me if it's an early night? I'll buy you that drink."

"I will."

"Have fun," he said, trying not to make his disappointment evident. The call went silent and he sighed again. He hated the thought of her out with some other guy, laughing at his jokes, or dancing with her hips pressed against his.

Trying to shake it from his mind, he drove downtown to Sasha's new house. It's what he said was going to do after training anyway. They'd have understood but at least he still got to see them outside of work this way. It was Tuesday night, so the two of them got together with Danilo and watched SmackDown and ate take out. It was a pretty good consolation prize, but it still meant that someone else was spending his night listening to the lyrical sound of her voice.

"I just don't understand how she can be so goddamn disrespectful after I've proven that I can hold my own against her," Sasha was complaining about her last match with Charlotte. "I mean, okay, she's Charlotte Flair, but divisions aren't made up of one person."

"Uh-huh," he said, staring at his phone on the table, waiting for it to ring.

"Seth?"

"Huh?" he looked up, Sasha was stretched out on the chaise of her sectional, playing with the ends of her hair. She raised an eyebrow.

"Are you listening?"

"Uh yeah," he got up and sat on the other side of the sofa, trying to show interest, "Charlotte's being a bitch."

"Whoa! I did not say that!"

"Okay, sorry, she's giving you a hard time again? She thinks she's better than you?

"Yeah, something like that," she sulked.

"Sash, where's your hot sauce?" Danilo called from the kitchen. He was a ref in NXT and one of Sasha's oldest friends. It meant by default, he was a part of their group any time they were in town, even though Seth never really connected to him.

"Next to the spice rack," she called back.

"Where's the spice rack?"

"Oh my god, it's attached to the fridge! This place isn't that different, guys."

"It's pretty weird," Seth agreed.

"Found it!" He came back in, passing around paper plates. "Are we allowed to eat in your fancy new living room?"

"Oh shut up," she grabbed the paper bag and pulled out the veggie burrito.

The front door opened and Bayley called into the house.

"I'm here!"

"About time!" Sasha called back.

She stood in the entry to the living room, a hand clamped over the other, and a strange, coy smile on her face.

"What's with you?" Sasha asked with a laugh.

"Uhh…" she grinned and held up her left hand, the one she'd been covering. A round diamond ring sat on her ring finger.

Sasha gasped, "what the!"

She jumped up from her seat and attacked Bayley with a hug, both of them laughing. Danilo followed suit, but Seth was a little slower to get up and congratulate her. He couldn't help but feel a pit in his stomach as she became the most recent of his friends to get engaged.

"When did this happen?" Sasha squealed.

"Early this morning. I got in, and you know that crazy jet lag I get sometimes?"

"Oh trust me, I know."

Bayley giggled, "well, we went for a walk along the boardwalk and watched the sun come up and then all of a sudden…" she shrugged and laughed again. "I mean we'd been talking about it but I guess I just didn't think…"

"Did he do the one knee thing?" she asked.

"Yeah,"

"Good," Sasha sent a smirk towards Seth, "girls like that."

"Duly noted," he grumbled, then cleared his throat, "congrats," he pulled her into one of her famous hugs and hoped she wouldn't tell him that now he'd be next.

As if she felt it, she didn't say a word. She didn't seem to mind when Seth hid in the corner of the sectional, quietly taking himself out of the conversation as her and Sasha talked giddily about it over dinner. Danilo didn't have much to say when they got on the subject of dresses, but he made an effort to ask about the engagement, the in-laws, all the regular things that normal people said to express their happiness for their friends. SmackDown went along, it was a go-home show for TLC, and the girls took a break from engagement talk to watch Becky's backstage interview. An hour or so in, Danilo announced he had to get going. He had a wife to get back home to, too.

"Sorry to leave you alone with this," he said to Seth as he hugged Bayley goodbye.

"It's cool man," he chuckled. Normally, in fact, he'd be happy to get his girls to himself. But tonight he was just in a funk.

"I feel like I just wanna go really simple and easy for makeup," Bayley was saying to Sasha. Again, he was only half listening, and only half watching the match on the TV.

"That was my thing, like I spend my whole life in stage makeup and crazy hair. All I wanted on that day was to do as little as possible."

"Yeah, exactly." Bayley glanced over to him, though Seth was still staring at his phone, checking that he never missed a text. "Are we boring you over here, Seth?" she asked earnestly. Bayley was always earnest.

"No, that's alright," he forced a smile, "you're excited."

"What's up?" she asked, earnest again.

"Did you know my brother's getting married too? In July."

"Yeah, I think you mentioned it,"

"He's 26. God, that's so young-" he tried to catch the words but they were gone.

"Thanks," Sasha rolled her eyes.

"Sorry. I just- I was an idiot at 26."

"You were kind of an idiot at 29, too," Sasha responded.

"Okay, got it, I'm the problem here-"

"Oh, Seth, I didn't mean it like that," Sasha shifted her position, facing him, "what's going on?"

He sighed, he wasn't really one to open up, but it was bubbling inside him and he was having a hard time ignoring it today.

"Everyone's moving on with their lives," he said quietly. "They're starting that next chapter. My baby brother, both of you,"

"We're not going anywhere," Bayley said.

"It's not about that, I just…I was doing that. Starting that chapter. And then I wasn't."

Out of the corner of his eye he could see both of them exchange looks.

"I know, it's my own fault. But still, you're all going forward and I'm stuck in place."

"So you wanna be married?" Bayley asked, trying to decipher what was bugging him at its core.

"No," he shook it off, shaking his head too, "I don't-I'm not-no." He sighed heavily, "you know, I just get like this sometimes. It's stupid."

"It's not stupid Seth, you're 30 and have had a failed engagement," Sasha said.

"Gee thanks for reminding me,"

"I didn't-," she tipped her head back, "okay obviously I can't say the right thing tonight. You wanna take over Bay?"

"I think Sasha means it's a normal reaction to feel like you need that in your life."

"I don't. I don't need that in my life," he buried his head into one of the pillows. "What I need is to get laid. I get all sappy and needy when I don't."

Sasha rolled her eyes at him, "thought you were making good progress on that one."

"Yeah so did I."

"Did she turn the heat off?"

"I dunno," he ran his fingers through his hair, "but she's out with some other guy tonight."

"Ah. That explains the phone," Bayley chuckled.

"She said she'd let me know if it ended early and it's…" he craned his neck to look at the TV, they were on the main event, "almost ten already."

"Maybe she got tired. Dating is exhausting."

"Or maybe it went well. All the way back to her place, well," he grumbled.

"She seems to like you a lot."

"But she's not convinced I'm worth it," he leaned his head back again. "She's probably right too,"

"Oh, Seth, don't say-"

"It's true. Dating some Orlando cop is gonna be a whole lot simpler than a wrestler at her brand new job."

"Simple isn't better. Simple is just simple," Bayley said, shaking her head. "Charly doesn't strike me as the kind of person who does something because it's easy."

"Yeah well, she chose him tonight."

"And she'll choose you tomorrow," Bayley insisted, "just wait."

He smiled at her, sincerely this time. "Thanks, Bayley." After a long breath, he said, "and do the simple makeup, it is better."

"Well in this case, yes."

"You'll look beautiful," he told her, "and you'll be happy."


	9. Chapter 9

Seth tried his hardest to keep his cool when he got to Raw that Monday. The reality was, he didn't have much of it. He caught a glimpse of her earlier in the day, just a couple of hours before the show. She was filling a cup of coffee in catering, standing away from him in a tight velvet dress, the back dipping low and teasing her tan skin. Suddenly, he felt the overwhelming urge for coffee.

"Charly, Charly," he cooed, coming up next to her.

She laughed at the sound of his familiar flirtation.

"Hi there," she smiled up at him, looking through her thick lashes.

"How are you today, beautiful?" he asked, pouring himself a cup of coffee.

"Pretty good," she smiled again, mixing in her creamer, "How about you?"

"I'm alright, but I gotta tell you," he dropped his voice low, "that dress is killing me, Char."

Charly rolled her eyes at him but smiled smugly, "I'm headed towards the preshow desk,"

"I'll walk you," he sped up sipping on his coffee. "So how was your date?"

The bitterness in his voice bugged him, but he couldn't help it. She cleared her throat, obviously uncomfortable with the question.

"Uh it was fine."

"Fine?"

"Yeah you know, he didn't spend the whole night talking about an ex or say he didn't like cats so, not bad."

"But not good?"

"Seth," she warned.

"Whatever, cheesy dude was boring, no surprise there."

"That's enou-" she started to scold him but was cut off by someone shoving against Seth.

"Whoa!" he jumped as hot coffee splashed onto his white t-shirt, "sorry-" he said instinctively before realizing who it was.

"Yeah you should be," Braun growled, "what where you're going, Rollins."

He almost shoved him back but thought better of it with Charly standing right there. It could get messy and she obviously wasn't a fan of that.

"What's your problem man?" he shouted after Braun as he sauntered away.

"C'mon," she said softly, pulling him towards the bathrooms, "that'll stain,"

"This is the women's room,"

"Oh grow up," she laughed, wetting a paper towel and pressing it to the mark on his shirt.

He smiled for a moment at the feeling of her hand on his chest. "So," he sighed, "you gonna see him again?"

Her eyes flickered up to him, glaring.

"You're just being inappropriate now."

"I just wanna know if I have something to be worried about."

"We're not dating, Seth," she murmured, rubbing circles on the stain.

"Oh c'mon," he pouted, "we both know it's just a matter of time."

"Actually, I don't know that because it's not true."

"So you're not just milking this until I'm desperate for you?"

"I told you how I feel," she looked up at him, "and the rest of my love life is no business of yours."

A sharp pain stabbed his stomach from her words and he dismissed it with a scoff.

"There's only one way this is gonna end, Charly, and we both know it."

She held his gaze, her cheeks flushing but not backing down. He raised an eyebrow and returned the longing stare, biting his lip, desperate to kiss her. Her head was tilting slightly, moving in slowly, and she had just begun to close her eyes when the door opening made them fling apart. Lana came around the corner and jumped looking up from her phone.

"Oh! Sorry! Should I-"

"No, no, that's okay," Charly was quick to explain, "we weren't, Seth just needed some help…"

"Spilled some coffee on myself," he nodded.

"Braun knocked into him, what a jerk."

"Ugh, that guy," Lana shook her head, "he's a big bully. You know he's been giving Rusev a hard time for no reason?"

"Seems like he's been giving everyone a hard time," Seth said.

"Yeah. Uh," she leaned against the doorway of one of the stalls, "I'm really sorry about what happened, Seth but I need to-"

"No, no, of course," he headed for the door, "thanks again, Charly."

"See you," her eyes followed him all the way out the door and when she looked back to touch up her lipstick, Lana was still watching her.

"That was kind of you."

"I felt bad, he was distracted talking to me when it happened."

"I bet he was."

Charly tried to put on a believable laugh, "not like that, we were just chatting."

"Don't be embarrassed," she said, coming up next to Charly in the mirror. "He's clearly got eyes on you."

"Think he's got eyes on a lot of women."

"Maybe. But there are worse guys to compete for, he's gorgeous."

"You're married," Charly laughed, reminding her.

"I still know a gorgeous man when I see one."

"He's good looking," she admitted, "I'm just not looking for that right now."

"Oookay,"

Lana turned around again and Charly sighed. It was the truth. Wasn't it?

XXX

Backstage during the show, Seth was constantly looking around for her, but Charly was always running around. He slowed down anytime he saw the cameras, hoping she was on interview duty, but he just couldn't seem to time it tonight. Instead, he found Braun, again, berating Sami Zayn, again.

"What's it to you? Little man," he growled.

"What's it to me? You think you can just bully everyone around here? Do you really think you can get away with that and we all won't stand up to you?"

"We? All I see is you. Face it, you're not man enough to step to me. And you don't have anyone who'd bother to help your sorry little ass."

"About that, Braun," Seth called, he couldn't' help himself. He strolled in front of the camera and clamped his hand on Sami's shoulder. "You think you're the star of this show cause you break the scale every weigh in? There's one of you, and trust me there's a whole lot more of us."

Bruan stepped to him, getting in his face. "I guess little guys have to stick together. Don't worry, Seth, you can get in line."

He stormed off and the camera crew followed him, though the monitors showed they were back to the commentary desk.

"You good, man?" he asked Sami, letting go of his shoulder.

"Uh yeah. What was that about?"

"I just…he's been a real jerk around here lately and you're my friend so-"

"We're friends?" Sami raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah…I mean, aren't we? We go way back, I fought you when I was a 20-year-old kid who had just made it to ROH. You bought me a beer after our match because I was too young to get one myself and you didn't want me to feel left out."

"I remember," he laughed at the story, "but uh, no offense, Seth, you were kind of a hyper-competitive jerk back then too."

"Alright, fair. Look, the enemy of my enemy, right? Let me get Mick to approve me on commentary tonight, if he goes berserk I can even the odds. For the beer?"

"Okay then, for the beer."

So Seth ended up at the commentary desk in street clothes, watching Braun and Sami trade blows in the main event. He hadn't been booked in a match, so at least this way his face, and his merchandise, was on TV. For what it was worth, Sami was holding his own, playing smarter than he had in the past. He began with a slap to the face and then ducked out of the ring, forcing Braun to chase him around the ring, his face turning red and him breathing heavily. Despite a few bad blows, he kept popping up and dodging Braun, tiring him out and keeping him from knocking him down too hard. Eventually, he set Braun up, and hit the Helluva Kick. Seth's mouth dropped, he did it, the scrappy little underdog did it. Sami pinned him to the count of three and scurried out of the ring as his music played.

Seth met him at the bottom of the ramp, holding up his hand in victory. The two turned their back as Braun was getting to his feet, shocked. By the time they reached the top of the ramp, he heard Charly's voice come over the speakers but tried not to be obvious about turning around and drooling over her.

"Bruan, Sami Zayn just handed you your first defeat one on one here in WWE, what's your response?"

"What's my response?"

"Ah-" he heard her cry out and turned to see him gripping the arm that was extended upwards with her mic. Her face was terrified, and a hush came over the crowd.

Before he knew it, his feet were carrying him down the ramp and into the ring, bolting. Seeing him put his hands on her, it stirred something inside him, animalistic. He knew Charly hated that violent switch, but this was a special circumstance. Braun saw him charging into the ring, and flung Charly to the side, her scraping against the ring ropes and crumbling to the mat.

Seth spring-boarded off of the top rope to hit him with a knee. He got up and kicked him in the stomach, his legs struggling for the flexibility in the skinny jeans he thought were a good idea this morning. It gave him the chance to hit the Pedigree. Normally he'd celebrate the elation of getting a guy like Braun, but today there was no time, he ran over to Charly, sinking to his knees.

"Charly," he pulled her up, she was shaking, "we have to go,"

"Ow-" she jumped off of her left foot, the one that had lost a rose gold pump, probably twisted an ankle.

"C'mon, Charly, he won't stay down," he helped her out of the ring, limping. "It's okay," he told her as she leaned almost all her weight onto his shoulder. "You're okay."

Begrudgingly, he took her to the trainer's room and they evaluated her ankle.

"I don't like her being here while he's storming about the halls," he told the trainer.

"We have security at the door, I just need to make sure it's not fractured. You can treat the rope burn at home."

Seth's eyes ran down to the open back of her dress, a nasty rope burn from the ring ropes red on her skin.

"I got one like that a few months ago," he told her softly, his fingertips running over it. She shivered but ultimately smiled shyly at him. "They heal quickly."

"It's just a sprain," the trainer told her, "I'll wrap it for you."

Seth looked around impatiently as he did, "then I can take her back to the hotel?"

"Seth, you don't have to look after me," she said, "I was upset but I'm fine now."

"I'm taking you back to the hotel and making sure that maniac doesn't come near you."

"She's good," said the trainer, "by all means."

"C'mon," he helped her to her feet and guarded her all the way to the locker room where she came back out with a tote bag and Ugg books. He couldn't help but chuckle.

"I know, it looks ridiculous, but I don't have other flats with me," she tugged her long jacket closed, limping slightly.

He took her bag from her and offered her his arm. Blushing, she accepted it, wrapping both hands around him. They walked to the lot, if she was nervous about who might see, it was overridden by fear of another attack.

In her hotel room, he set her up under the sheets, with a couple of pillows under her left leg. They hadn't spoken since outside the locker room, they didn't need to. It was romantic, heated. They both could feel it, so there was no need to vocalize it.

"There's a first aid kit, green pouch, the top pocket of my suitcase," she said quietly.

He rummaged through, nervously, she hadn't mentioned that the top pocket was also filled with silky, lacy underwear. He found the pouch and returned to the bed, sliding in behind her, his back against the mass of pillows.

"Hair tie?" he asked.

"Um," she looked at both of her wrists, which were bare save for a fitness tracker.

"Don't worry," he pulled his own hair down and used it to tie hers up.

"Didn't they teach you about lice?" she teased.

"You've put your tongue down my throat," he reminded her.

"Right," she giggled, "do you need this down?" she asked, looking at the shoulder of her dress.

"It'd…help. But I can make do if-"

"Go on," she whispered, and he pulled the stretchy fabric down off her shoulders. She slipped her arms out of it and shimmed it down under the covers. He found himself blushing and pulled up the sheet handing it to her.

"Beautiful view, but, I should focus."

She smiled shyly, holding the sheet to her hardly-clothed body. He tipped his hips away from her, trying to focus on the task at hand. In the pouch, he found an alcohol wipe and tore it open.

"This is gonna hurt like hell, but you really don't want this getting infected."

"I can take it,"

"Okay," he tried to be gentle as he pressed it against the scrapes, but she let out a loud cry, gripping the sheet tighter.

"Sorry, finished."

Digging through the pouch, he found some Neosporin and started rubbing small, delicate circles on her back. Charly winced at first, but relaxed into his touch.

"That alright?"

"It'll have to be," she inhaled sharply and then let it out, "your hands feel good."

"Good," he whispered back, "listen Charly,"

"Yeah?"

"I was out of line earlier, I'm sorry."

"That's okay."

"I'm a little," he sighed, "a little bit prone to jealousy."

"I noticed," she chuckled.

"It was petty. I feel bad."

"We'll call it even," she said, looking over her shoulder with a smile.

He put the tube away and slid out from behind her, taking a quick moment to admire her under the thin sheet.

"Can I get you something to sleep in?" he asked, a smug smile coming across his face. "Unless you sleep naked?"

"There's a pink sleep shirt on the top," she handed him the dress that had been discarded and he swapped it out for the soft cotton one.

He watched as she slipped it over her head and shook out her hair. She handed him back his hair tie and he played with it in his hands for a moment.

"Will you let me stay?"

"Hm?" she looked over at him.

"I don't want to leave you like this. He's staying at this hotel too."

"Seth, Braun's not going to come kicking down my door."

"You don't know how crazy people around here can get around here. Plus, this is my fault."

"How is your fault?"

"I provoked him and he took it out on you."

"Seth," she tipped her head.

"Just- I'd feel better. Please? I can sleep on the couch-"

"You don't have to," she slid over to the other side of the bed, leaving a space for him.

Seth smiled and pulled his jeans down but left his shirt. Climbing in next to her, she turned on her side and curled against his body.

"Easy," he murmured, "I'm trying to control myself here."

"Keep trying," she teased, wiggling against him. He could feel the throbbing. He was busted.

"I'll try."

"Thank you, by the way. For everything," she turned her head and kissed his lipss lightly.

"Anything for you, beautiful Charly."

"Goodnight, Seth."

"Goodnight."


	10. Chapter 10

Seth fell asleep almost instantaneously, but Charly found herself struggling to drift off, her ankle bugging her. He was warm against her body, his hands wrapped around her protectively, and truth be told, she loved falling asleep in his arms. He stirred just a bit, his beard tickling her neck and she giggled to herself, burrowing into him further. She found herself needing to be completely surrounded by him, sliding her legs in between his. There was nothing better than feeling this close to him, and she couldn't help but think about what it might be like to have him. She'd thought about it plenty before. Not that she'd let him know that she was spending her nights fantasizing feeling him move in tandem with her.

Murmuring to herself and closing her eyes, she realized he was thinking about it too. The bulge in his boxers had given him away all night, but then he held her tighter, like a pillow, and moaned into her ear.

"Oh Charly-" he groaned.

She glanced over her shoulder and whispered, "Seth?"

"Mmm, beautiful Charly," he sighed, his eyes still closed.

"Seth?" she said again, but it was clear he was deep in a dream. A dream about her.

"I've wanted to do this since the moment I saw you," he babbled, and she chuckled, might as well enjoy it. She wiggled against him, letting him hold her tightly. "Oh baby,"

He shifted, running his leg up and down over hers. It sent an intense feeling of wanting through her, like when he roughly pressed his lips to hers.

"Ohhh…" he moaned and rolled his hips. It made her cheeks flush and the hair on the back of her neck stand up. "You feel so good, so good."

She bit her lip. His breath was hot on her neck, and she could feel her own throbbing. Glancing back at him again, she sighed and slowly snuck her hand down between her legs. The feeling of the slightly wet fabric surprised her, but he had been moaning in her ear for the past few minutes. She slipped her hand under the cotton lace hem and rubbed gently.

"Mmm baby, right there?" he groaned again.

Looking over her shoulder again, he was still asleep. She pushed in a finger and silently gasped. Careful not to wake him, she took in the sound of his moans and the feeling of him pushing up against her and pumped in and out slowly. She let out a sigh, loving it. Feeling all of the hair on her body stand up, she rolled her hips again him.

"Mmm…ahhh- oh-hm? Huh?" his head shot up, him startled awaked. She froze, her hand still inside her panties, and glanced back nervously. He was groggy, eyes squinting.

"You okay?"

"Yeah-yeah just a dream uh," he looked down and her and flushed. "Was I…talking in my sleep?"

"A little…"

"Ah shit," he ran his hand through his hair, "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," she looked away and shut her eyes, not daring to move until he was asleep again.

"Did I upset you?" he asked nuzzling his face against her.

"Nope," she inhaled sharply. "Just go back to bed."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing I'm just tired."

"Uh-huh," he raised an eyebrow and ran his fingertips down her arm. Charly tensed up, he was onto her. His hand hit the lace of her underwear, and a smirk broke across his face. "Well well well, you dirty girl," he purred in her ear.

Her cheeks turned beet red, breathing heavily. "You're the one having a sex dream," she tried to recover.

"And you're the one," he slipped just below the hem, but kept his hand firmly on hers, "doing something about it."

She bit her lip.

"I could help you with that," his breath was hot on her ear, "if you wanted me to."

Turning her head back towards him, his eyes were lusty but his smile was soft. Nodding, she felt that bubbling in her stomach, the electricity coursing through her body.

He grinned, "one condition,"

His hand gently wrapped around her wrist and pulled it up, leading her fingers into his mouth. Her stomach dropped as his tongue circled them and sucked lightly. His eyes were closed and he moaned softly before meeting her heated gaze. He lowered her hand a smiled smugly at her flushed cheeks.

"That's what I was dreaming about, by the way," he pressed his lips under ear and she let out a moan.

Slowly, he slid his hand back down her leg, under her underwear and found the slickness of on her upper thighs.

"Daaamn, glad to see I have the same effect on you,"

"You gonna keep talking or?" she teased back.

"No, no," he pushed a finger into her, and she gasped, pushing back against him. "Has it been a while?" he whispered.

"A little bit,"

"Yeah, you're sensitive, I'll ease into it," he pumped slowly go the sounds of her moans, letting her adjust to the feeling.

"That's good," she gasped, him pumping in and out with a curled fig.

"Yeah?" he pushed in a little harder, "how about that?"

"Uh-huh…" she moaned, meeting his thrusts with her hips.

"Oh fuuuck," he held her with his other arm around her waist, "you feel incredible." A second finger slipped inside of her and she let out a louder cry. "God I can't wait to fill you up,"

"Not tonight-" she breathed through a moan.

"No, just fooling around," he let his thumb run over her and she shivered, "mmm I'm content with that. Aren't you?"

He picked up his pace and she melted into him. "Ohhh…"

"Say my name," he whispered.

She chuckled but obliged his request. "Seth-" she moaned, tipping her head back, "ahh-"

"There we go, c'mon baby," he thrust in harder, rougher, and faster, dying to hear her cry out and lose herself to his touch.

Her moans were getting sloppier as he pressed kisses along her neck. She reached behind her and tangled her hands in his hair, groaning his name. It motivated him further, using everything he could to make her feel incredible, his fingers, his thumb, his lips, even flicking his tongue against her ear occasionally.

"Ohh Seth," she cried out, seeming close.

"That's right Char," he bit down her delicate skin lightly to another cry, "that right baby, c'mon."

Her face scrunched up but only another standard moan came out. She was breathing heavily, her fingers running over his beard and cheek.

"C'mon baby," he pounded into her as fast as he could as her hands gripped his neck and shoulders. He purred in her ear, "let it out for me. Let me hear what that sounds like."

"Ohh-" she shook a little as she yelped and tightened around him through a small finish. "Ahh," she leaned her head back on his shoulder, breathing heavily. "That was great."

He paused his fingers, unsure, "yeah?"

"Mhmm," she nuzzled against his beard, "you're pretty skillful with those."

"Do you…want me to keep going?" he asked nervously.

"No, I'm alright," she sighed, "I'll return the favor if you give me a second to catch my breath."

"Okay…" he slipped out from under her, "let me clean up,"

"Not gonna lick it this time?" she laughed, hugging the pillow, her chest heaving.

"That uh, was more for dramatic effect," he chuckled, washing his hands in the bathroom sink, "I mean you taste great but,"

"Got it. Pretty effective."

"Oh yeah?" he crawled back into bed next to her, "you had fun right?"

"Did I sound like I had a good time?" she grinned,

"Uh sure, I just-"

She didn't give him a chance to finish his thought, tugging his boxers down and wrapping her lips around him.

"Oh fuck. Right to the point then?"

Charly laughed, pulling away and replacing it with her hand. She raised an eyebrow and smirked.

"Shoulda known you'd be a tease," he leaned back, enjoying her touch. "Mmm baby-"

She kept on him, pumping faster and then easing up and running her thumb over her. Her tongue came down to give him a little extra. He moaned, gripping some of her hair. When her mouth was fully around him, he thrust lightly to intensify it. She took the hint and moaned against him. It sent him off.

"Oh shit! Charly-" he gasped.

"Mhmm?" she pulled away, teasing him with her thumb.

"You are incredible."

Smirking, she held firmly and picked up the pace. He was losing it fast, she knew what she was doing, that was for sure. Her thumb ran over him lightly, then a hard pump, a lick, and repeat.

"God that's good," he breathed. He was close. She seemed to see it on his face, his brow was furrowed, his mouth gaping. Going fast on him with her steady grip, she met his eye and he felt it boiling over. He was shaking, gripping the sheets as it washed over him. "Fuck, baby."

Charly giggled, slipping out of the bed, easing herself to her feet.

"You want help?"

"I'm okay, you catch your breath," she glanced over her shoulder with a smug smile, obviously proud of her work. He could hear the sink running in the bathroom, but could only stare up at the ceiling

"Yeah- yeah I need it,"

She brought him over a few tissues and curled back against his body. He cleaned himself up and pulled up his boxers.

"This was a nice little surprise," she cooed against his ear.

"I just wanted to make you feel good."

"You did a good job," she closed her eyes.

"Did I?" he asked, but she was already asleep. He sighed, a nagging feeling of guilt washing over him.

XXX

The following morning after he'd kissed her goodbye, Seth found himself, coffee in hand, knocking on the door of Bayley and Sasha's room.

Sasha opened it groggily, "yeah you better bring us coffee," she grabbed the one labeled soy and let him in.

Bayley was sitting on the other bed in her pajamas. He'd texted them the second he left Charly's room.

"How's Charly doing?" she asked, taking her own coffee too.

"Good, yeah, she's fine. Just shook her up a bit," he nodded, his mind running a million miles a minute. "Uh she was upset about not having flat shoes but I think that's all."

"What size is she?" Sasha asked, sitting down and leaning against the pillows of her bed.

"Uh 6? I think."

"I'll find her tonight," Sasha eye him, "okay what's up with you? And why are we up at 7 in the morning for it?"

He sighed, "you two know I don't kiss and tell,"

Bayely laughed, "yeah, sure. There was a kiss to tell about?"

"I uh, we hooked up."

"Hooked up?" Sasha's eyes widened, "like hooked up hooked up?"

"Like fooled around a bit in bed."

"Nice, " Bayley smiled, "so what's the problem?"

"I couldn't uh, quite get her…there."

There was a silence that fell over the room.

"I'm confused," Sasha said after a moment.

"I couldn't get her to really orgasm okay!"

"Yeah no, I got **that** part. I'm just confused what you're freaking out about."

"Did you hear what I said?"

Sasha opened her mouth to respond but Bayley cut her off.

"I think what Sasha means is it's not necessarily a big deal."

"How could it not be? I gave her this tiny excuse of a finish while she gave me a proper, incredible-"

"Whoa, don't need details!" Bayley stopped him.

"It was really good," he smirked.

"Was she upset about it?" Sasha asked.

"No I offered to keep going and try to get her another but she said was good."

Bayley leaned back, "then maybe it's just normal for her."

"What?" he could hear the desperateness in his voice, "normal?"

"Yeah Seth, I know it's mind-blowing to you dudes but sometimes that's just how it is."

"Because of loser guys," he insisted, "who can't do enough for you."

"Mostly because of stigma, actually," Bayley corrected, "and stress, and hormones, and chemistry and a whole bunch of other things."

He sighed heavily, "so there's nothing I can do?"

"I mean I don't know, but maybe. You should probably just talk to her about it."

"And how do I broach that subject huh?" he groaned. "'Hey I noticed that last time we fucked around you had a pretty wimpy ending and I was wondering if that was my fault?'"

"You don't have to be a jerk about it, Seth," Sasha crossed her arms, "she's probably feeling insecure about it too."

"I just feel really guilty and I don't want it to happen again."

"Seth," Bayley's eyes narrowed slightly, "what's this about? Is it about her pleasure, or is it about your ego?"

"I-" he gaped, speechless, "alright, caught me. Right as always."

"Just talk to her," she continued, smiling sympathetically, "I know you wanna think you're some big stud but it might not be that simple."

"Okay," he nodded, "thanks, girls."

"So it was good?" Sasha smiled at him.

"Yeah, it was…just amazing."

XXX

The live show that night was just a town over, Charly got to the arena for call, still limping but only slightly. In the locker room, she pulled off her leggings and sweater in replace for a slinky blue dress. On the other side of the locker room, Sasha, Bayley and Charlotte were chatting about something they had coming up. It seemed like they were all friends again, sometimes it was hard to keep up.

"Hey, Charly," Sasha called over to her, pulling a pair of black booties out of her bag, "size 6?"

"Uh, yeah, actually,"

"Seth said you might be in a shoe crisis," she smiled handing them over to her. "Luckily I hate heels."

"Thanks," she sat down on the bench and slipped them on, "so uh, Seth was talking to you about last night?" she asked quietly.

"Um, he mentioned that he looked after you," she nodded, gulping.

"That's all?" she said unconvinced.

"He doesn't normally," Sasha whispered, looking over her shoulder, "he's actually pretty private. But he was sort of freaking out."

"Freaking out?"

"Apparently he thought he wasn't performing well enough."

"Ohh," she blushed, "I see."

"We set him straight, don't worry. But if you ever need help beating him up," she laughed, "we know where he's soft."

Charly laughed, "thanks Sasha, you didn't have to do that."

"Sure we did. I wanna see him happy. As in not fucking this up for himself."

She nodded, "he's got a lot of people in his corner, huh?"

"You'd think eventually he'd act like it."


	11. Chapter 11

"You texting Charly?" Sasha leaned over his shoulder and looked at his phone screen.

"You mind?" he shot her a look, "what if I was sexting?"

"Here?" she looked around the crowded Full Sail arena, they were sitting in the front row next to Bayley and her new fiancé. "Tell me you wouldn't sink that low."

"I dunno, she just mentioned getting in a bubble bath," he smirked as she rolled her eyes. "Should I tell her to prove it?"

"No," she laughed.

"Yes."

"Seth!"

"Doooing it," he grinned as he typed back to her.

"So things are good between you?"

"Yeah I mean," he shrugged, "nothing solid but the door's open for sure."

"Good,"

"Aww," he pouted, tilting his phone so Sasha could see the text: _very cute, Rollins. Text me when you're done._

"That sounds like she wants you to come over after?"

"Yeah maybe," he shrugged, "who knows?"

"Isn't that a good thing?"

"But I want a taste now," he pouted to an elbow in the side "Ow! Okay, yeah, it's good, but I'm not getting my hopes up. Still kind of feel like she's keeping me at arms length."

"She spent the night with you," Sasha reminded him.

"Yeah but it wasn't like, you know, the whole package. It was just a bit of messing around."

"When are you gonna be satisfied, huh?"

He thought about it for a second, "when she's mine."

Sasha smiled at him, tilting her head. Seth blushed, it wasn't easy for him to admit how badly he wanted her, to be with her. The lights dimmed and the last part of the NXT show resumed. Another one of the interviewers, Andrea, came out to host. Sasha leaned over and whispered to Seth.

"She's getting really good,"

"She's alright I guess," he dismissed.

She smirked at him, "no one as good as your beautiful Charly?"

"Not my Charly, remember? But yes, she's the best."

"Better than Renee?"

"Don't do that to me, you'll get me in trouble."

Across town, in a tan townhome by the lake, Charly dipped her foot into the warm bath water. She adjusted the temperature and moved to the kitchen in a silky robe, taking a bottle of white wine from the fridge. Her phone buzzed again as she poured, popping up a text message from _Seth Freakin' Rollins._ He'd put it in her phone like that when he gave her his number for "if you ever need anything." Naturally, he was the one who texted her first.

 _Yeah, I'll text you when I'm done here. Enjoy your bath ;)_

She rolled her eyes and chuckled, he was such a flirt, no matter what he was doing. In the bathroom, she slipped the robe off her shoulders and hung it on the door. Stepping into the tub a foot at a time, she sunk down into the bubbles.

"Ahh…" she closed her eyes.

The water hit just the tip of her hair as she leaned back. She loved these fleeting moments of nothing. Being on the road had been a rough change, it was non-stop traveling and working. Working was great, she needed it, craved it all the time, you had to in this sort of business. But that didn't mean that she didn't also need to pause sometimes. Pause with a glass of wine and some hot bubbles, ideally. She leaned her head back, letting her hair drape into the water. Sitting back up, she set the wine down and carefully combed through each section of hair. It was a blissfully mindless task, comfortably simple, relaxing.

Charly lifted her foot in the air, her red toenails covered in little white bubbles. Sipping on her wine, she breathed in deep, letting her mind wander to Seth. It was still dancing in her brain, the rough callouses on his fingertips and the softness of his touch. The way he breathed in her ear, whispered in her ear, moaned in her ear. His tongue on her skin…she was dying to feel it again.

She shook off that feeling, it was fun, but she had to stand her ground on the no-dating-a-wrestler policy. Getting involved with Seth now was a sure fire way to have all her accomplishes disregarded. Well, in a way, she was already involved with Seth, wasn't she? Truth be told, she wanted to be more involved, and he was right, it was a matter of time before she gave in. Still, she knew she had to be certain about him before she took that chance. She had to be sure he was worth it.

His reputation didn't help. She put on a brave face, she didn't want him thinking that it bothered her. He loved her openness, how she would just listen and understand, no judgment. But how was she supposed to feel about? The affair during his engagement, the affair with Stephanie… geez he had no problem stepping out on a relationship. The sound of his voice echoed in her head, "I can do better, I can be better." She believed him, she did. It just didn't change what had happened, what he had done. Still…she wanted him, she wanted him in her life, in her bed. She wanted him and all his flaws.

A buzzing echoing in the room broke her out of her thoughts. She stepped out of the tub, drying her hands before picking up the phone.

"I said text, Rollins."

"Felt like calling," his smooth voice came through.

"You interrupted my bath," she grumbled.

"So you're standing there, soaking wet and naked?" the smirk was clear in his voice.

"Uh no," she grabbed a towel and wrapped it around her body. "I have a towel."

"Ha ha ha I'm just messing with you, Char. Can I buy you that drink?"

"Hmm, bubble bath, exfoliated, a glass of wine, nah I'm in for the night," she leaned up against the counter, "but I suppose you could crash."

"You don't mind?"

"I'll put you to work, pick up dinner?"

"Sure thing."

"I was going to get Italian?"

"Italian it is, see you in a bit."

XXX

"You're lying,"

"I swear I'm not!" he laughed, a mouthful of spaghetti. "They had us in turtlenecks like we were in some soul boy band."

"How did I not know about this?" She was sitting across the couch from him, balancing a plate of fettuccini carbonara in her lap.

"Clearly you didn't do great researching job before getting here."

"Oh shut up,"

"It was only one night, luckily."

"I dunno, think you could rock it," she smiled flirtatiously.

"Yeah?" he bit his lip, looking her up and down, "feel like shirtless suits me better."

"Don't get too cocky," she stood up wit her plate, reaching out for his. He smiled at her, handing it over, and watched her as she walked into the kitchen.

"I like that top, Char," he called after her, "you wear it for me?"

"Oh do you like Batman?" she teased, looking down at the skimpy logo tank top. A bit of the lace bra underneath poked up when she moved. She had, in fact, worn it for his attention. "I hadn't noticed."

"I like it."

"Thank you," she smiled smugly walking past him.

He grabbed her hand, looking up into her eyes. Pulling her down, he positioned her between his legs, her back against his chest.

"Hi," she leaned her head back with a little chuckle.

"Hi. Sorry if I ruined your bath,"

"That's alright. Someone really wanted to hear what I sound like naked."

A smirk broke out on his face, "that obvious?"

"Very. Was it different?"

"Not really, but I enjoyed it anyway," he chuckled and she tipped her head back in a laugh. "But, getting to relax is rare in our line of work, so I feel bad."

"It's okay,"

His strong hands found her shoulders, squeezing lightly.

"Let me make it up for you," he murmured, rubbing small circles on her skin.

"Ohh I guess," she leaned into his body.

She felt his fingers loop under the straps of both her tank top and bra, lifting them up and pulling them down off her shoulders. It slid down her chest a little, revealing a bit of cleavage. His eyes grazed over it hungrily, but he focused on the massage. Kneading her muscles with his thumbs, he pressed his lips to the top of her head and she let out a deep sigh.

"That feels good,"

"Yeah? Just relax,"

"Mmm," she closed her eyes.

"I got you babe," he whispered in her ear, "just enjoy it, relax and enjoy it."

"Oh I am,"

"Shh," he kissed the back of her neck lightly. "I don't wanna hear anything that isn't a moan from those lips."

"Why?" she giggled.

"Uh-uh, nothing but moans. Relax, let it out."

"Seth?" she looked back at him suspiciously, "what are you doing?"

"Giving you a massage, thought it was obvious."

"To loosen me up?"

He sighed, "I just wanted to help you-"

"Relax?"

"feel comfortable!"

She pressed her cheek to his, "why?"

"Because. It just seems like you're a little bit guarded with me and I don't want you to feel that way."

"I'm careful and restrained, that's not a bad thing."

"Really restrained,"

Charly sighed and shifted herself next to Seth's body, looking him straight in the eye.

"Sasha told me about your conversation after the other night."

"Oh," his face flushed, "I don't normally-"

"I know. But you were all freaked out because I wasn't... loud enough for you?"

"No I-Char. I just want you to be able to have more than that. I want you to trust me."

"I do trust you, Seth. What I had with you there, that was good. It was really good."

"Well, it wasn't good enough."

"Seth,"

"I know I know, it's normal for some people, I got the lecture already. But I don't want it to be normal for us."

"When did this become about what you want?"

He opened his mouth to respond and sighed, closing it. "You're right. Goddammit-"

"You have a lot of women in your life telling you what's what, don't you?"

"I signed up for it," he smiled shyly, lacing his fingers in her still damp hair. "Charly, I guess what I'm trying to say is that…it makes me think…I'm not doing a good enough job. That I'm not good enough."

"Seth," she shook her head, "it's not about you I promise. It's not your fault. There's nothing to fault."

"But you do have a hard time letting go with me, don't you? You have a hard time opening up?"

"I-" she sighed, "again, not you. I'm like that with everyone."

"Why?"

"Because my job is to get other people open up, I'm half therapist sometimes,"

"Yeah, and you're damn good at it."

She moved her hair behind her ear, "so it's not necessarily easy for me to do it for others. I just find it…really hard."

He was quiet for a few moments before speaking again.

"You know everything about me…and I don't know anything about you."

"Oh that's not true,"

"Yeah, it is. I spill my guts you on a regular basis, I don't even know how you do it, that is not normal for me."

"You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to."

"I do want to, I just wanna know you too."

She sighed, crawling onto his lap, running her hand through his hair. He met her gaze with big brown eyes.

"What do you wanna know?"

"How long has it been?"

"What?"

"You said it had been a little while since someone touched you like that."

"Oh uh," she looked away, "July. I got the call that they were gonna put me on the road and he didn't want that. He made it pretty clear that it was one or the other"

He smiled sympathetically, "well I've been there."

"Yeah?"

"This is a tough business, Char, it's gonna be a choice you face a lot. Unless you choose to marry someone in the business."

"Marry?" she smirked.

"Yeah you know," he rubbed the back of his neck, "like Brie and Daniel or Miz and Maryse or basically everyone else…"

"I'll keep that in mind. What else?"

"What are you afraid of?"

"Dogs."

"What?"

"I know I know, I was avoiding telling you," she tipped her head back and laughed. "But I got bitten by one when I was a kid."

"No scar?"

"It wasn't that deep. What about you?"

"Heights."

"Really?"

He shrugged, "I guess in a way, wrestling is me conquering it. But only for the moment I jump. Everything else before and after is pure fear."

"Wow," she couldn't help but smile, "that's incredible."

"I've never told anyone that before."

"Really?"

"Really. You owe me a secret now,"

"Hmm. I'll have to get back to you on that."

"Take your time, beautiful. I had some other plans for tonight."

"Oh yeah?" Everytime she saw him it was harder and harder to resist him.

"Yeah," he leaned up and kissed her, bringing her lips in towards his.

She giggled, pressing her lips on his, and pulling him down to the couch. His hands flirted with the hem of her tank top and she ran her feet up the back of his legs, wrapping herself around him. He kissed the space underneath her ear and enjoyed the sound of her moaning as she tipped her head back. Suddenly, something hit his back and it made him jump in the air.

"JESUS!"

The animal made a loud, screeching sound and ran away.

"Oh, mittens," she called after it, frowning. "I think you scared him."

"Scared him? He attacked me!"

"He jumped on you," she laughed.

"I'm glad my pain is amusing to you," he leaned down and resumed his rough kiss.

Her hands tangled in his hair and she laughed through their kiss. Biting lightly down on her lip, she smiled against him. He ran his hands under the back of her shirt, teasing her lightly as he unclasped the bra and moved to the front. She shivered and gasped.

"Sorry, cold?"

"Just a little,"

He warmed his hands up with his breath and returned them under her shirt. Rolling her between two fingers she moaned and closed her eyes. Seth smiled to himself, playing with her in his hands. Turned out the chase was pretty fun itself, even though he was dying to get to the finish line.

A buzzing started on the coffee table, and Seth groaned. He clicked the alarm off and looked over at her apologetically.

"That's my plane,"

"Oh, yeah," she glanced at the clock, "it got late."

"I'm sorry,"

"Don't be, this was nice," she reclasped her bra behind her back. "Do you need a ride?"

"I've got a rental car," he kissed her on the head, "let me guess, just a bit of fun?"

She chuckled, "is anything 'just' with you and me?"

"Not a chance. Goodnight, beautiful Charly."


	12. Chapter 12

A/n: Updates are going to be slower from now on because of life, but keep leaving your comments. I love seeing your reactions to scenes so write me a note or a novel, I'll enjoy reading it either way!

XXX

Seth sat at his kitchen table, staring at his phone lying ahead of him. He bit his lip, trying to get up the courage. His fingers tapped against the glass table, anxious.

"Oh my god dude," his little brother, Brandon, sighed heavily from the other side of the kitchen, "just do it."

"I don't wanna come off like a creep."

"A date is creeping now?" he said, setting a bowl of popcorn down in front of him.

"It's not exactly a date…"

"In your business, seems to be as close as you get."

"Yeah that's true," he brought his shirt up to his nose and sighed, "I dunno man, that one can do a number on my ego."

"She wants you, is that not super obvious?"

"You think?"

Brandon nodded.

"Okay," he reached for the phone and pulled up her name. It rang for a minute before the sound of her voice came over the other end.

"Not in town again are you?" she said with a little chuckle.

"Why do you have another hot date?" he tried to sound cool.

"Um,"

"Seriously?" his heart dropped.

"It's just a silly double date. My friend's boyfriend-"

"Your friends seem to think you need a lot of help getting dates, Char."

"They just know it's hard to meet people on the road."

"Is that so?" Seth said bitterly, Brandon caught his eye and furrowed his brow.

"I'm sorry, were you in town tonight Seth?"

"No-no, I was just there."

"Yeah," she laughed, "I know, so why're you calling?"

"Right, sorry. Uh, the Rumble it's coming up fast."

"Yeah?"

"I know you haven't been around for a big event like this before, it's gonna be crazy, non-stop, really. I was hoping to offer my services."

Brandon rolled his eyes, popping a piece of popcorn in his mouth.

"Oh yeah?" said the other end.

"I've got a car, I'm traveling alone. I could use the company and trust me, you're gonna need the sleep."

"You want me to travel with you? Big step," she chuckled.

"I'm just offering. Look you can always still book your own room. I'm just happy to share my car."

"Sweet of you. Okay."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, I mean, I will get my own room."

"Might not end up using it."

"I'll take the risk. Thanks, though," she chuckled.

"You know I'm always looking out for you."

"Yeah, I know. G'night Seth."

"Enjoy your date."

"Good night, Seth."

XXX

Monday was the go-home for the Rumble, the beginning of a non-stop week. Seth was wandering through the backstage area when Tom Phillips approached him.

"Hey Seth, I was hoping to grab you later for a segment?"

"Sure, what about?"

"Ah, c'mon you know I prefer to keep my talking points a surpsie."

"Charly lets me see her questions in advance,"

"Yeah I bet she does," he said with a laugh.

Seth's eyes narrowed, "what's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, never mind. Look, Stephanie says she's making an announcement at the top of the show, so I'll wait for you at guerilla and we can do it then."

"Sounds good," he nodded to Tom and walked down the hall.

"Rollins!" Kevin called from behind him. "Stephanie wants to see you,"

"She sent you?" he raised an eyebrow.

"Just came from there."

"What kind of mood is she in?"

"I wouldn't wait it out."

Seth sighed and turned around, not saying another word to Kevin. He knocked on the door labeled with her name and poked his head in.

"You wanted to see me?"

"Seth, yeah," she barely looked up from her laptop. "Have a seat, close the door."

"So we're closing doors now, huh?" he smirked, shutting it behind him.

"This is sensitive."

"Sensitive? Well," he took the chair next to her, "now you have my interest."

"You gonna keep being cute or are you going to hear my offer?"

"So you admit I'm cute?"

"You want Triple H?" she shut her laptop suddenly, done with his games. "Well, he wants you too."

"Really? Old man H is gonna hang up the suit for me?"

"He was the World Heavyweight Champion less than a year ago, I wouldn't take him lightly Seth, you might regret it."

As much as he wanted to throw it back in her face, but he really wanted the chance to punch her stupid husband in his.

"What's the offer?"

"You and Hunter, one on one at the Royal Rumble. No Kevin, no Bruan, no Shield 2.0. Just you and him."

"Seems pretty straight forward, he couldn't have brought this to me himself? He had to hide behind your skirt?"

"He's having a hard time being in the same room without punching you in the face."

"Ha, that's rich."

"Can you blame him? After what you did?"

"What I did? What **I** did, Steph?" he felt his temper flaring. "No. What we did. On your desk, for the most part."

"Yeah Seth, I remember. Trust me, I've been trying to forget, but I remember."

"Oh trying to forget how I made you moan, are you?"

"Are you that proud of this?"

"Are you that ashamed? So ashamed that you shirk responsibility for it?"

"I'm not-"

"I mean look at you Steph! Negotiating a deal on behalf of your husband with your ex-boyfriend-"

"Boyfriend?" she rolled her eyes.

"Ex-boyfriend, a match over what we did. You and me."

"I-"

"did this with me," he finished for her. "Maybe Trips doesn't realize this, but you needed it just as much as I did.

"Is now really the time for your ego, Seth?"

"This isn't about my ego it's about you trying to rewrite history. You McMahons love that, don't you? Well I didn't make you do this." He leaped to his feet, furious, "I didn't push you into anything, I didn't coerce you, and I sure as hell didn't blackmail you. I looked at you and I saw that you were lonely and exhausted and unlike your husband I actually decided to do something about that."

"It was a mistake," she stood up too, meeting his fiery gaze.

"You don't think I know that? But at least I can accept that it happened and that it meant something instead of brushing it under the rug like it was nothing."

"It **was** nothing,"

"It wasn't nothing, Steph!" The pressure was building up behind his eyes, his heart beating faster. "I was there, I felt it,"

"You felt your own bullshit."

"No, you can't hide from me." He shorted the space between them and dropped his voice low, "I see right through you. When I was on top of you on that couch in your office, I looked right into your eyes and I saw it."

"You're lying to yourself," she shook her head, sitting back down, "you want the match or not?"

"Of course I want the match," he scoffed, leaning against the desk.

"There's a condition," she sat back down, crossing her legs.

"With a McMahon? No shit."

"I know what this is about, you know what this is about. But you can't bring it up at all. No one can know."

"Why would I want anyone to know? I've kept it a secret this long."

"Things get heated sometimes, and you're no stranger to trash talk."

"Well I won't blurt out 'that's what your wife said in bed' if he won't, how's that?"

She rolled her eyes, "this isn't a joke, Seth. If there's evidence the rumors are true HR will have to launch an official investigation. I'll get reprimanded and have a very uncomfortable conversation with my father but you? Do you really think he's above firing you over this?"

"I know he's not."

"So it's in everyone's best interest if we all just keep our mouths shut."

"Fine by me."

"Oh and one other thing,"

"What?" he sighed, there was always one more catch.

"Hunter just… he wants to make sure you understand this isn't for me. That if you were to win you still don't win me."

His stomach twisted and he dropped his eyes. "Not a problem," he said quietly, "I'm seeing someone."

"What was that?" she asked.

"I said," he said louder, "not a problem. I'm seeing someone."

"Riiight I heard about that."

"What do you mean you've heard about it?"

Stephanie shrugged, "people have noticed the way you two are around each other. Be careful with that one."

"Oh what is that supposed to mean, Steph?"

"You're not the only with skeletons in your closet, Seth."

"You don't know her."

"And you do?"

He paused, his throat in his stomach. How did she always know what would hurt him the most?

"Of course I do."

"Well, good. You should do the HR paperwork if it gets serious, by the way. It'll save you a headache later."

"That's for the relationship advice," he grumbled. "So I have my match?"

"Yeah, you have your match. I hope it's enough for you."

"And is it enough, for him? He gets to punch your lover in the face and you two go back to your blissful marriage?"

She stared at him for a moment before sighing, "we've made our peace, him and me. We're happy again."

"How's the sex?" he taunted.

"Get out of my office, Seth," she said, shooting a glare at him.

Without another word, he turned and left, shutting the door behind him. Sure enough, the announcement Stephanie had to make was for that match and he had to play along like it was the first time he was hearing it. He wasn't the only one who had to answer to her tonight, though, she called out Roman, too.

He glanced to Seth from the side of his eye as he ducked under the ropes into the ring. Seth nodded slightly.

"Now, Roman, last week you called out the Universal Champion Kevin Owens."

"Yeah," he glared at her, Roman wasn't quite so amused with Steph's games.

"What makes you think you deserve another shot at his title?"

"Let's cut the crap, Stephanie," he grumbled. "You have two guys here who've been screwed by the Authority over and over and over again. We are your top guys and you know it."

"We? That's cute, still look at that, still looking out for your little brother."

"Alright, enough," Seth cut in, "Roman's right, we're some of the best guys you've got. You wouldn't have put us in the Survivor Series team if you didn't know that's true."

"And you two lost us that match."

"Stephanie, I'm gonna say it one last time. I want Triple H. And I'd bet he wants me too. So let's just make it official."

She smirked at him, paused for a moment, and handed him a black folder, containing his contract. He slammed it down on the table and scribbled his signature before shoving it back to her. Seth ducked back under the ropes and sauntered up the ramp, his head held high.

Coming through the curtain, Tom was waiting for him, like he said he would. The two of them found a quiet corner in the hall and waited for the rest of the segment to finish up. Tom got the signal from the producer lifted his microphone.

"My guest at this time, Seth Rollins,"

"Tom," he nodded.

"So we just heard you've got a match with Triple H at the Royal Rumble. What's your reaction?"

"It's about damn time. You know, H has been dodging me for months. I don't know why he took it upon himself to take my Universal Title from me, and frankly, I don't really care. But what I do know is that he's gonna pay for it."

"Speaking of paying-" that familiar grumble came up behind Tom's shoulder. Braun cracked his knuckles, steaming. "You and me have unfinished business."

"We don't have beef, Braun," Seth said calmly. "I came out last week to support an old friend, I didn't get involved until you crossed a line."

"You Pedigreed me,"

"I neutralized the situation."

"Now Seth," Tom interrupted, "some people are questioning why you ran in following Bruan's match last week, do you wanna give us an explanation?"

"Why I ran in? Tom are you a trained wrestler?"

"Uh…no."

"No, because you're a reporter, so you're not used to being hit, you don't know how to protect yourself during a hit. Right?"

"That's right."

"Well neither does Charly, she's a civilian and you put your hands on her. I have a problem with that."

"Oh I'm soooo sorry I scared your little girlfriend,"

"She's not my girlfriend," Seth said quickly, too quickly. "But that doesn't mean I'm not about to protect her, or anyone else from your dumb blind rage."

"Maybe you should worry about protecting yourself from what I'm gonna do to you tonight."

"Fine," he played it off, "I'll see you in the ring."

He walked off, happy to have the last word and leave Tom to deal with Braun's anger. Heading for the locker room to wait out the time between his match with Bruan, he heard the click of heels around the corner and slowed his walk. It could be Lana, or maybe Charlotte if she didn't have a match tonight. But sure enough, Charly rounded it in big tan pumps. She caught his eye and blushed.

"Hey," he leaned up against the production crate.

"Hi," she smiled shyly

He dropped his voice low, "I think people are onto us."

"Yeah I think so too," she whispered back.

"Sorry, I tried,"

"I know you did."

"Do you-" he gulped, "do you wanna keep doing this?"

"Yeah, I do,"

He smiled, "good,"

"Let's just stay the course, okay? It's working, right?"

Seth paused for a moment, his heart in his stomach.

"Yeah, of course, this is working."

"Good, yeah, good. Um, you're gonna go fight him?"

"I'm going to wrestle him, I'm gonna lock up with him like," he took her hands and pushed against them, "this."

They glanced around, but there was no one back there, most people hung out at catering in to watch the show. She giggled, biting her lip gently as he twisted her into a chain hold, her back to him, arm around her waist.

"And I'll get him in a chain hold just like this," he whispered in her ear as she squirmed.

"And Suplex him?" she taunted. There was no way he'd be able to out muscle Braun.

"Nah can't do that. Maybe," he smoothed out his voice, "I'll just have to kiss his neck until he taps out."

Slowly, he pressed his lips to her neck, grinding against her hips, and she tilted her head back at the touch.

"Ahem," came a cough from behind them.

They broke apart so quickly they practically flew across to opposite sides the hall. Kevin stood at the bend, a bored look on his face, his arms crossed.

"I got married at 22 and we had more self-control than this, guys."

"Sorry, man,"

"Hey you don't have to apologize to me, but you do not want Carrano catching you next time," Kevin breezed past him into the locker room.

"I'll see you later," Seth said to Charly, following Kevin. "Hey," he called after him as Kevin sat down to take off his boots.

"What?"

"Look that was weird, I know, but can we please just keep it between the three of us?"

Kevin rolled his eyes, "that's so typical of you, Seth, you flaunt it and then want to control who finds out about it."

"I'm not flaunting anything-"

"C'mon, man, we all saw that last week."

"I happened to be out there, it was chance."

"Oh, I heard about why you were out there," Kevin scoffed, "protecting your old buddy Sami."

"We go back, you remember,"

"Yeah I remember, I remember the night after the match you had with him. We all went out drinking and you were too young, so Sami **and me** went up to get you a beer."

"Yeah, so?"

"So you can revise history all you want. You can control the story, you can believe what you want to believe, Rollins. But it doesn't make those things true."


	13. Chapter 13

Her phone rang later that night, after she'd gotten back to the hotel room and changed into pajamas.

"Seth freakin' Rollins," she smirked as she answered it, "to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Charly," he responded, his voice thick, "how's your night?"

"It's alright,"

"Listen, I didn't get a chance to see you again tonight,"

"Yeah I know, it was a crazy night."

"Can we change that? Come down for a drink?"

"I've already put on the fuzzy socks they're not coming off."

"For anything?"

"Anything."

"Then I could come to you?"

She paused for a second, "okay. 306."

"I'll be right there."

Not long after, they were curled up on her bed, watching whatever movie happened to be on TV. His arm was draped over her shoulder, her head on his.

"Hey uh," he began.

"You're in one of those spill-your-guts moods, aren't you?"

"Little bit. Look, I just wanted to say I'm sorry if I was pushy last week."

"It's okay. As long as we understand each other."

"We do. I promise."

"Good," she snuggled against him, "but there is one thing I'm upset about,"

"What?" he asked nervously.

She climbed onto his lap, settling in between his legs. "You never finished."

Seth smiled to himself, running his hands up her back and onto her shoulders. He kneaded into her muscles and her head tipped back. A moan escaped her lips and he suddenly felt no interest whatsoever in what was happening on the television screen.

"How's that?" he whispered.

"Mmm," she turned her head to press a kiss to his cheek.

"Um, I talked to Kevin, by the way," he said after a minute. "I don't think he's gonna say anything to anyone."

"Oh, good."

"I mean he tells his wife everything but that probably won't be a problem."

"How do you know that? You two friends?" she asked, looking up at him.

"We were. A long time ago."

"Hmm."

"He's on the outs with Chris and Sami, I don't think he really has anyone else to tell. Bruan's probably gonna keep being a jerk but he doesn't have any evidence. I was hoping to shut him up with a beating but…"

"Are you alright?" She reached back rubbed his chest, under his t-shirt his skin was red and tender. It hadn't gone particularly well.

"Yeah, I'm okay. I just hope it got him off your case to beat me up."

"You didn't have to-"

"Yes, I did."

"I know how important momentum is and you have a huge match on Sunday. A match you've been waiting to have for months."

"Char, I would take a stomping from Braun before every big match for the rest of my career if it helped keep you safe." He pushed his thumbs down a little firmer and she moaned. "Right there?"

"Right there," she sighed, "that's sweet, Seth."

"I just wanna protect you," he murmured in her ear, "from everything, ideally, though that's not really an option. But this I can, and I will."

She leaned against his body, looking off in the distance. "I'm always afraid," she said slowly and softly, "that I'm gonna choose the wrong guy, and it will fall apart, and I will have no one to blame but myself."

He didn't say anything, just bit his lip and felt her breathing heavily. Charly turned her head to look him in the eye.

"You said I owed you a secret," she said quietly. "But I don't…I'm not thinking about that… as much as I usually do. I mean it's a lot still, but considering… it's a big deal."

The corners of his mouth turned up and he pulled her into a deep kiss. His hands tangled in her hair, holding her tightly to him. She turned her body, pushing him down to the sheets. Her hips moved against his. Lightly, she nipped at his lip and he smiled, groaning.

"What's the verdict on the fuzzy socks?" he whispered.

She chuckled, "staying on."

"Alright."

Charly turned back over, nestling in with his legs on either side of her. She leaned her head against his chest and ran her hands over the soft material of his sweatpants. He kissed the top of her head, long and loving.

"I like being with you," she whispered.

"Is that another secret?"

"No, not a secret. Just a thought. I like this."

"I love this," he sighed.

"Love? The last time I heard you use that word was…"

"Yeah," he said shortly. When she didn't say anything else, he bit his lip. "I know what you're thinking. But I'm over that. Completely.

"Completely?"

"Entirely. And if you're worried I won't be able to fall in love with you the way I did with her, you haven't been paying attention."

"Because you already have?" she teased, tracing circles on his chest.

He chuckled, "getting there for sure,"

Reaching up, she kissed him deeply again. Her hand teased the waistband of his sweatpants and ever so delicately slipped underneath it.

"Ha ha ha couldn't resist my charm huh?"

Her thumb ran over the tip and he gasped, his mouth gaping and a shiver running down his spine.

"Shit," he breathed, "how do you do that?"

"You're not that hard to figure out, Rollins," she whispered, her lips very close to his.

"Is that right?" he whispered, looking her over.

"You love to be teased," her fingertips grazed him so lightly, "you like the suspense, having to work for it," she smiled shyly and he bit his lip, lustily smiling back. "But, you hate not getting what you want."

"You've got me all figured out Caruso," he smirked, "so are you gonna be good to me and give me what I want?"

"Not a chance," she returned his smirk and pulled her hand back up to his chest.

"Fair enough," he grinned. "But make no mistake, I'm not about to beg."

"I don't expect you to beg, I just want you to earn it."

Seth chuckled, "Char, have I ever told you how much better my life has been since you came into it?"

"Seth," she laughed, resting her head on her arm, "objectively that's just not true."

"Yeah, it is."

"I know things haven't been going that well for you, professionally."

"I lost a match, it happens…a few matches I guess…and there was the thing with the Stephanie rumors…" he looked down, "it's been a rough patch."

"Sorry," she whispered.

"Don't be, you know what I'm going to do?"

"What's that?"

"I'm gonna kick Triple H's ass, and then I'm gonna go into that Royal Rumble match sore and hurting, and I'm gonna win it. Then I'm gonna go to WrestleMania and beat Kevin, or Roman, or whoever and become three-time World Champion. And then, Charly, Charly, beautiful Charly, I'm gonna take you to dinner. A real date."

She laughed, "did you just cut a promo?"

"Habit. Do you believe me?"

"Seth, I want you to succeed, I wanna see you accomplish all your goals and all are your ambitions. But I don't care about that stuff, I never have."

"The first night I met you, I told you I'd get the belt around my waist and then you'd change your mind."

Her hand ran over his chest, "I didn't go after you because you were the company's top guy,"

"Go after me?" he couldn't help but grin, "and all this time I thought I was the one chasing you."

She bit her lip, looking at him through her lashes.

"Bit of both."

"That explains why we keep going in circles. Can I ask you…"

"What?"

"What's it gonna take? What're you waiting for?"

"I-" she paused, biting her lip, "it's complicated."

"Try me," he said, but she looked away again, "or don't. That's fine too, I'm not going to rush you, I'm not. I told you I didn't give up that easily, and I'm gonna keep sticking around. But…baby, you gotta know I can't wait forever for you to decide what you want."

Charly nodded, "yeah, of course,"

"Do you know what it is you want from this? "

"Working on it."

"Okay," he smiled reassuringly. "What about just tonight?"

"Well," she leaned down and kissed him, straddling his hips with her body.

"Is that all?"

"Noo," she smirked.

"Show me."

She took his wrists and drug his hands up the front of her shirt. They came to rest when his thumbs grazed over the peaks. He smirked and started rubbing, gently at first.

"Mmm," she moaned against his lips.

"If you want something," he murmured, "you're gonna have to say it."

"Alright," she bit her lip deviously, "rougher."

"Your wish," he returned the look in her eye, "my command."

XXX

"Do you think it's too cold for ice coffee?" Renee asked, standing next to Charly in a local Orlando coffee shop.

"I go for hot no matter what."

"And you live in Orlando?" Renee laughed, "you are crazy."

"I know, I know. So what's Dean got going on today?"

"Appearance over at the convention center and then he told Matt Bloom he'd stop by the PT and work out with some of the developmental talent. I got your coffee by the way," she said as they came up to the counter.

"Oh, thanks! Vanilla latte, hot?"

"And I'll have an iced coffee, room for milk. Thanks," she handed the barista her card and they took a table by the window. Renee crossed her legs and leaned in on her elbows. "So you excited for the Rumble?"

"Yeah I hear it's a really fun night,"

"It's probably my favorite, honestly. That's actually when Dean and I officially met"

"Really?"

"Yeah 2014, I interviewed him and the others after the Rumble match where there were cracks showing in the Shield. Seth and Roman were all business but Dean…" she laughed, "Dean gave me this little wink and the rest is history."

"Wow," Charly laughed, "that's awesome. He asked you out after that?"

"Ehh he kind of beat around the bush for a while, spun his wheels. We didn't start dating until around Mania of that year."

"And you guys are good?" Charly sipped on her coffee, "you're happy?"

"Yeah, of course we are. Why, did someone tell you we weren't?"

"No! No, I was just curious."

"Oh, cause you know, it gets a little gossipy around here."

Charly bit her lip, "that's what I was thinking, between people at work talking and then twitter and the dirtsheets…"

"There are a lot of rumors, yeah," she sighed, "we tried to keep it a secret for almost a year but it was no use. We were talking about moving in and getting a dog…there was no way we could keep denying it."

"Does it ever get to you?"

"A little… but I love Dean and I wanna spend my life with him and so that's all that matters. Fuck all the rest right?"

"Yeah, yeah I just think it would be hard. Exhausting even."

"It's love. It's not supposed to be easy."

"But is it supposed to be this hard?"

Renee narrowed her eyes. "Are we still talking about me and Dean?"

"No, yeah, of course," she shook her head, "sorry, I don't mean to pry. It just seems complicated. More than most of the backstage relationships. Church and state you know?"

"Yeah, I do. Look, there's a reason there's not a whole lot of wrestlers dating other roles in the company. We hardly see each other at shows, and all of our relationships with our co-workers are completely different. But it's also nice, too, I don't tell him how to do his job and he doesn't tell me how to do mine."

"That's true… Is it worth the headache?"

"Completely."

"I'm glad to hear that," Charly nodded, sipping her coffee, "for you."

Renee put her cup down, leaning in on her elbows, "why don't we talk about what this is really about."

"It's not about anything," she shook her head. "I was just curious. Nosy."

"Yeah?" Renee raised an eyebrow, "c'mon you can tell me. Who's making eyes at you?"

"No one-"

"Finn?"

"No, and I've hardly worked with him," she laughed.

"Xavier?"

"He's married."

"Seth? He's not married."

"No," she shook her head.

"How about-"

"Nene!"

"Okay okay, but you can talk to me, about anything. You know that right?"

"Of course I know that. There's nothing to talk about."

"Alright," she leaned back, "we can talk about something else. Are the boys treating you okay on Raw?"

"Kevin and Jericho have sort of been jerks."

"They can be like that. You just gotta be firm, you have a job to do and they have to respect it."

"Trust me, I've been trying."

"Hey I saw what happened with Bruan the other night, that was crazy."

"Yeah well, he's an asshole,"

"I meant to text you,"

"Don't worry, I was fine, it just looked scary."

"I'm glad Seth and Sami were there."

"Oh, yeah, me too. I don't know if he was planning on taking it further but I did not want to find out."

"He would've gotten suspended if that makes you feel any better."

"Thanks, but not really."

"Sorry, at least you had your knights in shining armor."

Charly rolled her eyes.

"I'm just happy he was there."

"He?" Renee tipped her head.

"Hmm?"

"He? Sami and Seth both ran in when Braun grabbed your arm."

"Yeah, I mean, I meant both of them."

"Okay…" Renee looked unconvinced but dropped the subject for the time being.

Charly's phone buzzed and she swiped it off the table quickly. The last thing she needed right now was for Renee to catch wind of Seth texting her flirtatious little words. It got her attention, though, raising an eyebrow.

"You waiting for someone?"

"No just," she looked at the screen, "it's from Jackson."

"The guy your friend set you up with?"

"That's the one."

"What's he saying?"

"He wants to know if I'm free for dinner, maybe a movie?"

"Tonight?"

"Yeah," Charly bit her lip.

"So maybe a plan b, someone canceled?"

"Yeah, maybe."

"You should go though!" Renee said enthusiastically.

"You think?"

"I mean, you liked him, right?"

"Yeah, he was fine."

"So go out again, figure out if there's something there."

"Yeah I guess," she pursed her lips, staring at the phone.

"Unless there's another reason you don't want to?"

"Hm? No no of course not. Course not."


	14. Chapter 14

Sharing his car was maybe the best decision Seth had ever made. She brightened those long rides through dark highways. When he made her laugh, she did this thing where she closed her eyes and wrinkled her nose. Once he figured it out, he did everything he could to get her to laugh and watch her smile wide. It was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. She played music he'd never heard of, soundtracks of indie musicals yet to make it big on Broadway and a few that had. Some song sung by teenyboppers about how taking a road trip was freedom and they wanted to drive forever. He got that sentiment, at least, even if it wasn't his cup of tea. Not to mention, he'd do anything to make her happy. Every night he walked her to her hotel room, he insisted, and she'd smile coyly at him but never let him through the door. He kissed her on the head and walked away like a gentleman, it wasn't really something he could think about at the moment.

At the same time, though, she was affectionate as of late. The car doors would shut and she'd pull him into a deep, long kiss in the parking lot. When they managed to be alone, her hand almost always found its way to his bicep. She bit her lip anytime he made the slightest bit of flirtation, batting her eyelashes at him, and making him want her more and more each day. But he had bigger things to think about. Charly would be there, he told himself, when he was done with what he had to do. She'd be waiting at guerilla to throw her arms around him when he beat Triple H, when he won the Rumble, when he became the Universal Champion. Maybe after all of it, he'd give it to her with the belt wrapped around his waist, he wouldn't be the first one to do that. She'd laugh and roll her eyes at him, but she'd let him have it, never admitting that it sort of turned her on. And then, if Kevin ever got it back, he could chuckle to himself about the places he knew that title had been. It would be perfect. He had a plan.

Saturday morning, he had just gotten back from the gym to take a shower. A towel around his waist, he combed through his wet hair. A buzzing echoed through the bathroom as his phone vibrated on the countertop. He couldn't help but smirk to himself as a no-make up selfie of Charly popped up on the screen.

"I was just thinking about you, kid," he answered.

She laughed, "were you now?"

"Well I'm not wearing anything, that tends to happen."

"Alright, this has gotten real sex hotline real fast."

"Sorry, you rang?" he chuckled.

"You're in your room?"

"Nah I just hang out naked around hotels."

"Look out your window, smart ass."

Curious, he walked over to the large windows of his hotel room, pulling the curtains off and letting sunlight stream into the room.

"Get out of here," he said, his eyes wide.

"Crazy right?"

"We're in the middle of Texas," he looked out as the soft white flurries fell to the ground. "They never get snow…"

"It's beautiful, huh?"

"Yeah…"

"But if this place is anything like Florida…that means they're gonna freak out."

"Oh, yeah, good point. Remember in 2012 when we had that freak storm and the entire city just shut down?"

"Uh, no," she laughed, "I moved to Orlando a year ago,"

"Oh, right."

"You forgot?"

"No…I just... forget that sometimes. Anyway, we should get on the road the minute we're done."

"That's what I was thinking."

"Is it sticking?"

"I don't think so, not yet anyway. But it's cold enough, it might later."

"I just hope it doesn't get ugly."

"It's snow, how can it be ugly?"

"Ah you're one of those snow romanticizes," he said as he lay down on the bed.

"I never get to see it since I moved away from home."

"And now you're getting it in Texas, how about that?"

"Funny world."

He could almost hear her smiling across the line.

"What're you doing before the show?"

"I have prep at noon."

"What? That's lame."

"I know but someone has to make sure things go according to plan."

"Hmpf well I just show up and punch people."

"Must be fun for you. Some of us have to work."

"You got time, though, you could come up for a while if you wanted."

"You're the one who just showered."

"So I'll shower again."

"I really should get ready…"

"Twenty minutes."

"Twenty?"

"You know what I can do in twenty minutes?"

She was quiet for a moment, "Alright. Put on pants."

"Deal."

He smirked as the knock came at his door a few minutes later. She was dressed already, in ripped jeans and a slinky black top. Laughing she shook her head at him.

"Do you ever wear a shirt?"

"You said pants, you never said anything about a shirt."

She pushed past him but he reached for her arm, shutting the door. Something in his eyes was dark and wanting. He pulled her in and she pressed her hand to his cheek as he kissed her. His hips pinned her against the door to a gasp from her lips.

"Put your arms around my neck," he commanded to an eyebrow raise from her. He sighed, "please?"

Charly laughed and obliged. He ran his hands under her thighs and lifted her up, pushing her against the wall and himself against her. She gasped again.

"Wow wasting no time, huh?"

"Twenty minutes yeah?" he whispered, grinding up against her.

"Uh-huh," she gasped as he pressed his lips to her neck.

"Then I better make sure you're thinking about me all day."

Charly gulped as his hands teased her waist. She closed her eyes, feeling his stiffness as he moved against her. It was everything in her power not to dissolve into a moaning mess. She had to give it to him, he was good, not that she'd ever admit to him that she was already thinking about him all day every day. His lips were against her roughly, demanding, almost needy. He'd been a bit distant the past few days, overwhelmed with the stress and happy to just listen while she talked. She could tell he was worn down. His mind was an incredible place, but sometimes it seemed so full of stuff that he might explode.

She nipped at his lip and he moaned.

"Don't tempt me, beautiful," he growled, "this is just a bit of fun."

Charly bit her lip and tried to keep from melting right there in his arms. His effect on her was unreal. She was trying to resist him, her brain was still telling her it wasn't the best idea. But it was getting harder and harder every day to pretend she didn't want him the way he wanted her.

XXX

A soft knock came at the locker room door after he'd stepped out of a rinse. It was just him and Roman, after Stephanie had forced them to go one on one in the main event.

"Yeah?" he called.

Charly poked her head in, "Oh! Sorry!"

"No worries baby girl," Roman chuckled as he pulled on a t-shirt, "how many times a week does he let you catch him naked?"

"Hey now!" Seth smirked, it was true.

"I'll leave you two, don't get caught," he winked at Seth and smiled at Charly as he moved past her.

The door closed behind him and Charly looked at Seth, blushing.

"I didn't come in for-"

"I know, you wanna leave in a minute?"

"When you're ready, I could wait out-"

"Aw now, don't get shy on me, Char," he grinned, dropping his towel to the ground. Watching her cheeks flush and bite her lip he smirked to himself. He pulled on his boxers and his skinny jeans, pretending not to see her eyes graze over him. "Ready?" he asked as he zipped up his hoodie.

"Uh, yeah, let's go," she started to move away but he grabbed her hand.

"Hey," he said softly, "thank you, for everything this week."

"I haven't done anything, Seth,"

"No, that's where you're wrong," he kissed her gently. "Let's go."

Sure enough, the route to San Antonio was a mess. Seth was used to driving in the snow, and it was still pretty light, but the rest of the cars on the road were a nightmare. Charly didn't seem to even notice, she absent mindlessly stared out the window as it fell, sighing to herself blissfully from time to time. On the other hand, Seth was cursing and shouting every time a car cut him off or did something stupid.

"C'mon, today!" he yelled as a car in front of him hesitated as a light turned green. He honked the horn, grumbling to himself.

She looked back over to him, a slight smile on her face, "you okay?"

"This jerk is afraid of a few snowflakes."

"They're not used to it like you,"

"I hate the snow."

"Sorry," she laughed turning back to the window.

"I know you're in heaven over there but I'm in hell."

"It's going to be okay. This was the shorter drive,"

"Can you check how long we have?"

"Mhmm," she pulled her phone out of her jean pocket, tapping on it to follow their route. "Uh."

"What?" He wasn't sure he even wanted to know

"It looks like I-10 closes up in about 30 minutes. Some sort of accident."

"Are you fucking kidding me?"

"Seth-"

"I'm sorry," he said softly, "I didn't mean to yell." He sighed, "is there another route?"

"We could get off and go through Austin but,"

"That'll take us hours at this rate."

"Yeah," she looked out the window at the slow moving traffic, "look, it's supposed to warm up first thing tomorrow morning, and then it's going to rain, this all might be gone by 8 am."

"You wanna pull off and find a place?"

"I think it's better for you if you get a full night's sleep and we just leave time in the morning to get you there."

He chuckled, "that's sweet, Char. I'll do whatever you want."

"Super 8 at the next exit,"

"Done," he smiled, she was always finding a solution, even if it was the last thing he wanted to hear.

They made it to the hotel after another hour of difficult traffic, though things got better once they made it off the interstate. The Super 8 sign flashed "vacancies" and they sighed with relief. She glanced over as they pulled into the lot.

"Um, we don't really need two rooms, do we?"

A small smile came across his face but he suppressed it, "I'll do whatever you want."

So they ended up in the tiny motel room, one queen bed in a dimly lit space. It was an older one, yet to be renovated. Clean enough that Seth didn't have flashback to his indie days sleeping 5 to a room just like this, but hardly the plush suite he was supposed to have waiting for him in San Antonio. He put his suitcase down and went to the bathroom to take out his contacts while Charly changed in the bedroom. They were killing him and plus, he felt like he should give her space. She hadn't really signed up for sharing a room with him tonight. His bare feet on the tile sent a chill up his spine, and patting down his face after washing it, he realized just how cold he was.

"Are you cold?" he asked opening the door, she was stretched out on the bed in one of her long sleeved sleep shirts.

She looked up at him from the screen of her Ipad, "uh, yeah, a bit. I didn't wanna get under the covers if you decided you needed a specific side."

"You make me sound like a brat," he said as he wandered over to the thermostat next to the bed.

"Well…"

"It's fucking 65 degrees in here no wonder."

"Maybe they set it low?"

"Nah it's set to 73, damn thing's broken, of course."

"It's not that bad," she tried to assure him

"I'm gonna call-"

"Seth, it's the middle of the night they can't do anything about it right now. Just come to bed."

"OF course this is happening right now!" he kicked the side of his suitcase and it sent him back as a sharp pain ran through his toe.

"Seth," she said more firmly this time, catching his attention, "what's wrong?"

"It's just the last thing I need right now," he shook his head, "tomorrow is the most personal match I've ever been in and honestly, I'm not even sure I'm ready." He could hear that tone in his voice, the frantic one he got when the truth started spilling out of him. "They didn't tell me about it until last week on purpose. It's a game."

"I know you're stressed."

"Stressed is an understatement, Char. All of it… Kevin and Jericho, Stephanie and H, the Rumble, you, plus I have to see Dean tomorrow, god. And then this. Fucking this."

"Hey," she sat up on her knees, biting her lip lightly, "I have a solution to the stress and the cold,"

Her hands grazed his chest and he watched as she pulled down the zipper of his hoodie, removing it from his shoulders. He shivered but didn't stop her. Next, she took off his shirt, her delicate hands running over the lines of his torso. Meeting her gaze he raised an eyebrow.

"Now what are you up to?"

"Body heat, that's how you survive in cold temperatures. Weren't you a boy scout?"

"I was and I'm pretty sure Hollywood made that up."

"Do you care?" she asked, pulling the sleep shirt over her own head to reveal the soft skin underneath.

"Oh, fuck no," he shed his skinny jeans and boxers as fast as he could. Climbing into bed with her as she giggled, he took the liberty of pulling down her lace underwear himself.

He wrapped her in his arms, she pulled the comforter up over their shoulders and snuck her legs in between his. Their lips crashed together, neither of them seemed to think about it, it was just the natural response. Her body radiated heat, probably not actually enough to keep them from dying in the freezing cold, or maybe it was, he wasn't sure. Had Mythbusters done an episode on it? He couldn't remember…

Seth shook off his mind's ramblings and focused all of his energy on running his hands all over her body. Her skin was white hot as he grazed it, trying to press it against every inch that he possibly could. Suddenly it wasn't about being cold, a desire was building in his stomach. She had to have expected him to get hard from this whole thing, it would probably just have been insulting if he wasn't. Still, he tried to tip his hips away from her as he felt himself throbbing. Her hand traced down his body and was around him suddenly, teasing the way she knew he liked the most.

"Fuck-Char,"

"You're plenty warm down here," she taunted in his ear.

Roughly, he grabbed her wrist and pulled it away, teasing her upper thighs with a finger. "Yeah? Well I bet you're a furnace tonight,"

She moaned as he pushed in to find out, spreading just wide enough so that he could get momentum. She was, as he expected, burning, but he didn't stay in one place too long. He pulled out again and moved up to her chest. They trashed about, giggling as they wandered over each other's bodies, their lips hardly ever leaving each other's mouths or skin. She had a funny look on her face, that look she gave him when he asked her a hard question she wasn't sure she wanted to answer. Her lip was red from her biting it anytime he left it. Eventually, she sighed.

"Do you have something?"

"What?" he looked up from where his tongue was rolling her nipples.

"You know like a-"

"No, I know," now he was biting his lip, completely thrown, "are you sure?"

"We don't have to, if you don't-"

"No, I do," he said quickly, looking around the bed, "where's my wallet?"


	15. Chapter 15

He stumbled back into bed after retrieving his wallet from the floor. His mind was in a bit of a fog. Was this really happening? She watched him carefully from the pillows as he tore open the little package. Fumbling a bit with it, he looked over at her and she chuckled. Her hand wrapped around him, helping to roll it up. She met his eye.

"You nervous?"

"Little bit," he admitted, biting his lip as she stroked him gently.

"Why?"

"I just…wasn't expecting this tonight. I've been…wanting it for a while…"

"Oh I noticed," she grinned and his cheeks flushed, he'd been up front about how he felt about her from the get-go. But now, now it was real. There she was, underneath him, her bare skin glowing, waiting for him. And it was freaking him out. "Are you just gonna stare at me or…"

"Right," he shook his head, "right."

The butterflies in his stomach persisted as he very slowly lowered himself into her, but it all left him once he bottomed out and she yelped, crying out his name.

"Fuck. That's right," he wasn't totally sure if he was telling her or himself, "that's what I can do for you, baby."

His hands ran through her hair as he kissed her neck and thrust slowly to sharp breaths and moans. He was going to be the best she ever had tonight, he had to be. But first, he eased her into it, looking down at those soft brown eyes as they fluttered open and close with every gentle motion.

"How's that feel, beautiful?" he murmured in her ear.

"Good-oh!" she gasped as he pushed into her faster. His hands slid up to her chest, rolling her in-between his fingers and making her eyes roll back and she whimpered.

"Oh you're sensitive up here, aren't you?" he smirked as she gasped for air, moaning. "Uh-uh. Say it," he growled, "tell me what I do to you, tell me what you want."

Instead of obliging, she just pressed her lips to his roughly, and it accomplished about the same. He kissed her back, thrusting in a steady pace that she matched and squeezing her lightly. She wrapped her legs around his hips, giving him a bit of extra leverage.

"Jeeeesus Char, you feel so good,"

"Just like you imagined?" she teased.

"Better. Much better," his voice was thick, rolling his hips against her, trying to find what she liked the best. "You know the things I've pictured?"

She giggled, "like what?"

He ground his hips in circles, "like that. Like you," he kissed the top of her breasts, "on your knees for me."

Absentmindedly she licked her lips and he grinned.

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

"I know my strengths," she mimicked him, pressing her mouth to his ear and biting gently.

"Oh fuck- yes, you do." He trailed small nips down her neck, "you been dreaming of this, beautiful?"

"You have."

"I know that. What about you? Did you fall asleep every night imaging how I would feel inside of you?"

She murmured something he couldn't make out. That was good enough, he continued to try everything he could think of, moving around looking for just the right spot. Her breathing hitched as he moved high and to the left. He grinned.

"Ah all the way in the back huh? No problem."

He looped his arms underneath her legs and hiked them up, letting them drape over his shoulders. Their eyes met, hers dark with anticipation. Pushing in rougher, the moans started pouring out of her.

"Seth-" she gasped.

"Say the word, beautiful. "

"I-"

"What do you want?" he smirked as her mouth gaped open. His thrusts were rough but slow and she started withering underneath him.

"Faster-"

Seth smirked and slowed his pace, loving the way her nose scrunched up in frustration. His little tease didn't last long, though. Annoyed, she waited for him to let his guard down and rolled him onto his back.

"Hey!"

"You should really know not to mess with me, Rollins," she smiled smugly, starting to bounce up and down on him.

"Oh-shit-" his hands came up to her delicate skin and it was his turn to moan. "C'mere," he pull her towards him, rubbing her vigorously and murmured at the feeling of her skin coming into contact wit his.

"What were you saying about it being cold?" she teased, her hands tangling in his hair.

"Now I've got my own personal furnace," he ground against her roughly. She smiled against his lips and met his thrusts with hard, fast ones of her own. His eyes traced her body as she sat up. "You're beautiful," he groaned.

"Really? You've never mentioned that," she laughed and kissed him.

"Someone's spirited in bed."

"You complaining?"

"Hey," he wrapped his hand through her hair, positioning her to look him in the eye. "I say it all the time because it's true. All the time. And right now? You are the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."

She smiled and leaned in, kissing him lightly. The kiss became rougher though, and so did her thrusts, bouncing up and down on him as her hands ran all over his body. He was starting to feel a throbbing inside of her, the strain of keeping himself together. He needed to get her there, fast.

"Roll over and I'll give it to you as hard as you like," he groaned in her ear.

"Deal," she obliged, though she whimpered slightly as he left her.

"I'm coming back, I'm coming back," he assured her, sliding in effortlessly. "Now, how do you want me?"

"Hard," she said through a gulp.

Biting his lip, he pulled one leg up over his shoulder so that he could hit right where she wanted him the most.

"Seth!" she cried out, gripping him so tightly he could feel her nails digging into his skin.

"You good?"

She nodded, gasping for air. Taking a deep breath, he flexed his leg muscles against her, tightened his grip, and began pounding into her. Her breathing hitched, moaning his name and grasping at him.

"Ohhhh there we go, baby, ha ha ha there we go-" he emphasized the last word with a deep hit and she let out a yelp.

He loved the look of euphoria that was settling in on her face, her nose scrunched up, her hair falling gracefully on the pillow. But much as he wanted to hang on to it, he could feel himself coming undone with every thrust. She was matching his intensity now, and it was building in him unbelievably fast.

"C'mon baby," he groaned.

"Mmmm-" she responded, half a moan. "Oh, Seth."

"I'm yours baby, all yours."

She giggled at that, pushing into him again, her nails digging into his hips. One hand relieved the pressure to pull his head down to hers and whisper in her ear.

"Anything you can give me, I can take."

"Is that so?" he hurried his pace and sure enough, she weathered his thrusts, moaning more and more with every move. "Ah I love that sound," he purred, "let it all out, Char."

"Seeeeth-" her voice trembled.

"Oh yeah," he was sure he had her now, "c'mon baby." Somehow he managed to give her more, the bed rocking underneath them now, but his stamina was fading, fast. "C'mon baby!" he practically shouted, almost demanding. "C'moooon-"

His body shook, she let out another yelp, crying his name, but it was clear he was riding a wave that she hadn't caught. He felt himself explode and deflate, falling down to her body, collapsed. Breathing heavily, he bit his lip.

"Fuck!" he ran his hand through his hair. "I wanted to hold out there-"

"It's okay," she whispered, running her hand over his hair. "That was incredible."

He shook his head and crawled off of her, cleaning himself up. Her eyes were hot on him as he came back out of the bathroom, but he avoided her gaze. Slumping back into bed, she found the words.

"I don't understand what you're upset about…"

"I'm upset because I failed, obviously," he grumbled.

"Seth, we talked about this," she pulled the comforter up to her chest, suddenly feeling naked.

"I know we did," he said quietly. "I just thought I could do better." He shook his head, looking away from her. "This isn't how I planned this."

"Planned it?"

"Well it wasn't supposed to be in a crappy motel for one," he leaned his head back. "I was going to get champagne. And candles. And I was going to blow your mind and let you give up all control and take care of you. It definitely wasn't supposed to be this."

"This is how I wanted it. Tonight."

He didn't say anything for a moment and then turned over, his back towards her. Looking over his shoulder, he said quietly,

"Char, I really need some sleep. Let's just talk about it later."

"Okay,"

She slunk down into the bed as the light clicked off and suddenly the cold returned to her body. Scooting closer to him, she looped a leg around his, and that at least got him to drape an arm around her, holding her close. But even in the darkness as they both pretended to be sleeping, she could feel his disappointment.

XXX

They both pretended nothing was wrong as they drove the rest of the way to the arena. The car was quiet, but not uncomfortably so, and he smiled at her as he passed her cup of coffee over at the drive-thru window.

"Do you want me to drop you off somewhere?" he asked.

"Hmm?" she sipped her coffee.

"I just didn't know if you didn't want to be seen getting out of the car with me…"

"We've been doing it this whole time," she laughed. Rumors had been fairly low, for the moment.

"Yeah but that was before…"

She rolled her eyes at him, "we don't have to hold hands, okay?"

"Okay, whatever you want, Char. Uh but…do you wanna come by tonight?" he asked quietly. "We can try again?"

"Yeah," she nodded, "sure."

"Last chance," he said as they pulled into the arena lot.

"We're good."

They parted at the door, Charly off to the locker room to change before getting her makeup done and Seth making his way to catering. He was frustrated about last night, but at least she had agreed to let him try to fix it. Candles, he decided. Candles would fix this.

He poked his head into catering cautiously. Chris and Kevin were sitting on opposite sides by themselves, a large group of the girls in two of the middle tables pushed together, John Cena sitting next to Nikki Bella on the far side. Seth breathed easy not seeing anyone who hated his guts paying him any attention. Renee was filling a travel mug at the coffee station, and he bee-lined for her, avoiding making eye contact with Kevin.

"Hey 'Ne," he tried to say casually.

"Heeey Rollins!" She leaned in for a hug. No matter what happened with him and Dean, she was always there for him. "I gotta head over to some pre-show prep, but we should catch up later."

"We can catch up now, I've got nowhere to be," he said following her.

"Oh, okay. How're things?"

"Good, good, you know just training my ass off for tonight."

"Yeah I bet, I know Dean's been trying to get in the gym twice a day for this thing with the Miz."

"How is he by the way?"

"Dean? Ask him yourself, he'll be here," she dismissed.

"You know I can't do that. Just tell me."

"Okay, he's good. Working hard as always, but he seems to be getting opportunities. He doesn't love the two of us being dragged into the conversation, but you know,"

"Are you okay?" he asked softly, "that must've been mortifying."

"Yeah, I mean," she crossed her arms, "it was awful. But you know Dean, he trusts me to look out for myself."

"I know Dean, I just would feel terrible if I made that happen to someone I love."

"It wasn't his fault, Seth,"

"I'm not saying it was I-" he sighed, "it must be hard. The whole wrestler mixing it up with an interviewer."

"Uh huh?" she raised an eyebrow at him.

"You ever feel like it's not even worth it…you know, like he's not worth it?"

She stopped, leaning up against one of the concrete walls and looking him straight.

"No. I don't. "

"Ever?"

"Ever." She took a gulp of coffee and gave him a knowing look. "So, are you two still dancing or are you finally making moves?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh quit the act, Seth, Charly asked me the exact same question."

"She did?"

"Last week."

"So she's worried I'm not worth it."

"I think she's just worried about what people will say."

"Because I'm Seth Rollins?"

"You have a bit of a…reputation."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," he grumbled. "I don't want her to have to deal with that, I don't."

"So let her go then."

"I don't want to. I wanna be enough for her."

"Well, that seems to be your answer."

He nodded, "I uh, I'm sorry to lay that on you. But you're the only ones who are actually doing it."

"No, I get it. I mean, one of you could've asked Dean about it, you know."

"Has Charly even met Dean?"

"I wasn't talking about Charly."

Seth sighed, "Renee you know I can't talk to him about this. He hates me."

"I think if you talked you might be able to work it out. He misses you."

"And I miss him!" he blurted out, "but that doesn't matter. I can't take back what I did and that's the only way he's ever going to forgive me."

"You never apologized."

"That's not true,"

"Not for the chair shot. Not for the betrayal."

"Then…for what?"

"You played him, Seth," she said quietly. He met her gaze solemnly. "All that time you let him believe he was the one calling the shots. He'd give **you** marching orders and think that he was really the leader, but only because that's what you let him believe, wasn't it?"

"I-" he gulped, looking down, ashamed. "He did his best work when he thought it was his idea."

"And now everyone knows that he was just your puppet and that you believed were smarter than him and could manipulate him."

"Renee I'm… I'm sorry."

She shook her head, "don't tell me," she gave him an encouraging smile. "Good luck,"


	16. Chapter 16

Seth tried to put it all out of his mind for the rest of the day. He watched her on the pre-show, sitting there in a strapless yellow dress that made her skin glow and her eyes shine. She was perfect. But it didn't really do him any good to beat himself up about letting her down, not today. He wandered around backstage, his match would be up at the second hour, and the preshow match hadn't even started yet. That's when he came across a camera crew following Dean down the hall as he chased down the Miz. Seth leaned up against the wall, watching it play out.

"Do we have a problem, Mike?" Dean grumbled, grabbing his collar and pushing him against the wall. Maryse stumbled back. Dean's gaze followed her, and then caught Seth's eye over her shoulder.

"Calm down, Ambrose. What, you're trying to defend her honor over here?"

"You know, the first time you tried to drag her into this, I said 'Renee's a tough girl she can take care of herself.' And sure enough, she slapped you right across your dumb face."

The Miz glared at him, "she got a cheap shot."

"And clearly you're still torn up about the mark she left on your face. Cause you just can't let it go, can you?"

"Gets under your skin doesn't it?" Miz pushed him back and fixed his suit. "Welcome to the club, Ambrose. You can't let your feeling blind you and if you do, you can bet I'm gonna capitalize. I for one am proud of my drop dead gorgeous wife."

"My girlfriend isn't an ornament," Dean growled. "She has a real job. A job she can't do if she's being harassed by you over her private life."

"Aw isn't that sweet, independent woman huh? Doesn't need you to fight her battles. And yet here you are."

"Let me make it very, very clear," he took a step towards Miz, towering over him. "Leave her alone. She isn't part of this. You mess with my girl, and you're gonna make an enemy out of me."

"An enemy? Oh no."

"Your life **changes** when I am your enemy," he looked up, "isn't that right, Rollins?"

Seth watched as the cameras turned to him. He snickered, "yeah that's right." They made eye contact and Seth smirked, nodding at him as he walked away.

He got around the corner before he heard footsteps behind him.

"Hey, Rollins!"

"What's up, Dean?"

"That's not normal, by the way," he said, catching up and walking next to him.

"What isn't?"

"'People butting in like that. You know, insulting her and pulling her into my shit."

"Jesus. Renee told you?"

Dean rubbed the back of his neck, "she thought I'd wanna know."

"Do you?"

"No, psh, of course not," he shook his head, "I mean, I don't care, but she cares that I care so I gotta put in some effort y'know?"

Seth laughed, "yeah alright."

They pushed open the door of the locker room, where Cesaro and Sheamus were putting on their boots for the opener. Seth nodded to them and didn't say anything else to Dean, what was there to say? He pulled his shirt over his head and kicked off his sweatpants, grabbing a towel to wrap around his waist. Rummaging through his bag for his comb, he saw Cesaro glance over and furrow his brow.

"Uh Seth?"

"What?"

He nodded to Seth's waist, "think ya got some love marks there…"

Seth looked down and groaned. The place where Charly had gripped him had turned red and purple, breaking a bit of the skin. It hadn't hurt that much, but her nails must've been sharp.

"Daaaamn," Xaiver looked over from the other side of the locker room. "Someone had a good night."

"They're not that bad," Seth said.

"Uh, they're pretty bad, we can see them from here," Kofi nodded.

"They're gonna show up on camera," AJ Styles said from his chair.

"Oh shut up, butt-man."

"And it was all anyone could talk about, wasn't it?"

Sighing, Seth tossed off the towel and pulled on his clothes again. "Then I guess I better go take care of it."

He crossed the hallway and knocked on the women's locker room door. "Everyone decent?"

"Come in," Dana called.

He poked his head in, most of them were off getting their makeup done, but Dana sat with Charlotte on the far side.

"Hey uh, Sash, I need your help with something."

"What's up?"

"Uh," he glanced over at Charlotte and she laughed.

"Alright, we get the hint," she said, breezing past him and closing the door behind her and Dana.

"Do you have concealer?"

"Why did you get a butt zit or something?"

"Uh," he pulled up his shirt to show her the marks and her eyes widened.

"Whoa,"

"I know, they're bad. Can you help me?"

"Yeah," she dug through her makeup bag and put some tan liquid on a cotton ball. "This stuff can cover tattoos so you should be fine."

"Thanks,"

"Mhmm." She worked for a moment, not saying anything and he waited, knowing it was coming. "Sooo…bear attack?"

"Charly... has sharp nails, apparently."

"And a good grip." She laughed, "turn. So I'm guessing…"

"Yeah,"

"You must be happy, how long have you been chasing her?"

"Since I met her, basically," he ran his hand through his hair. "Yeah it was great it's just…a lot of pressure."

"From her?"

"Not really, mostly me," he shook her head, "I wanna be good enough for her."

"You are good enough, and if she doesn't believe that, then that's her problem."

He chuckled, "thanks Sash, but you know me."

"Yeah, I know you," she nodded at him, "all dolled up, good luck out there."

He nodded to her again before walking out of her locker room. It was nice, at least, to know he always had the girls in his corner.

XXX

They gave Triple H the second entrance spot, a sign of respect for the veteran. So Seth leaned up against the turnbuckle his arms crossed, chomping on his gum, and watched him spit his water around as Stephanie came up at his side. She looped her arm around his and Seth scoffed. So much for no outside interference.

Hunter stared him down as he got in the ring and Seth held his gaze. He smirked a little. This wouldn't change anything, they both knew it, it wouldn't change what he'd done. It drove Hunter crazy, and that gave him some advantage here, even if it drove him crazy every time he thought about the day he said he loved her. She wouldn't have told him about that, he was sure, how Seth had pined over her, begged to make love to her. It was humiliating. But here, he was just the jerk who had fucked his opponent's wife, and that was a better position to be.

They circled each other, feeling it out. He was sure he knew Huter's MO, he'd be able to see everything coming a mile away. But as he charged at him, expecting a lock up or maybe a push back, he was met square in the face with a fist. It sent him stumbling back to the mat. He caught himself on his elbows, looking up at Triple H's smirking mug, and then past him to Stephanie who looked deviously content.

"Oh, fuck you, Hunter," he grumbled as he picked himself up and dove for his legs. It grounded him and they were so close to his corner he could hear Stephanie gasp. Every bone in his body wanted to look up at her as he wailed on Hunter, but he knew too much interaction between them would raise suspicion.

Either way, it was a painfully personal match. Everyone would chalk it up to student/master, but they both knew better. It was clear from the start that H didn't want to pin his shoulders to the mat for a count of three, he wanted to hurt Seth as much as he could manage. It pained him to admit it, but Hunter was getting the best of him. Every chance he could he grounded and pounded. Presumably, that served two purposes, it kept Seth from getting his aerial game, and it let Hunter punch him in the face over and over and over again.

Still, he managed some offense. He was quicker by a long shot, and his style was more varied. An Enziguri or two went a long way against the bigger man. He made sure that if nothing else, H would feel it in the morning. Up on the top rope he set himself up for the Phoenix Splash and couldn't help but look in Stephanie's eyes. Her expression was impossible to read, and if he was honest, she probably got no joy out of this situation. She stared back, nervously, a bit of affection still in her eyes. It distracted him for a moment, and before he knew it he was on Triple H's shoulders and being power bombed down to the mat again.

He snarled at Seth and shook his head. If he was able to, he probably would've told him that he'd never look at his wife ever again. Seth stumbled to his feet, but Hunter was waiting. He felt a sharp kick to his stomach and knew what he was in for. His face hit the mat in the Pedigree, and his entire body screamed in pain. He prepared for a pin, steadying his breath so he could kick out, but again, it wasn't over.

"Give it to me," Hunter was shouting, "c'mon, now,"

Seth lifted his head, Hunter stood at the ropes, looking down at Stephanie. She shook her head.

"Steph!" Hunter shouted.

She tilted her head, "don't do this, Hunter, you don't have to do this."

"The . Stephanie."

"I didn't bring it. It's not here."

Seth pushed himself up, seeing the opportunity. He charged at Hunter and threw him down to the ground, glancing back at Stephanie one more time. She protected him? After all of this. She protected him.

Hunter was not pleased, and Seth found his back on the mat again in an instant. His punches were more vicious, he'd planned to bash Seth's skull in with that sledgehammer. Stephanie'd be forgiven, she could do no wrong in his eyes. He never left, even for a night when the truth came out. Seth took all the punishment, he always did. Maybe she saved Seth from taking a sledgehammer to the skull, but she might've ended up making it worse, as something came out in Hunter that he'd never seen before. Brutal hits were non-stop, and no matter how much he was down, Hunter never went for the pin, just kept kicking him. Struggling to even stand, everything was hazy and he was having trouble even breathing. Suddenly he felt a foot on the back of his head, his face driving into the mat for a second time.

 _Fuck._

The pin was nearly effortless, Seth was all but out cold. The jerk really had to go and use his move? The move he was told he shouldn't use anymore? Bullshit. Hunter pushed him away and Seth blinked, trying to regain his bearings. On his hands and knees he saw Stephanie greet him at the stairs, laughing, smiling. She kissed him fiercely and Seth's heart dropped into his stomach. Their eyes met for just a second, and she sent him an "I never loved you" sneer before pulling hunter back into a kiss. Hunter looked back at him once more, a knowing smirk. The message was clear, they probably wouldn't even make it back to their hotel. She liked limo sex, but he knew that didn't he?

Seth pushed his hair back from his face and watched the two of them walk away, his arm around her. It took everything in Seth's power to not start sobbing.

XXX

A gentle tapping came at his hotel room late that night. Seth sighed and rolled out of bed where he'd been watching some History channel weirdness. His entire body screamed as he limped to the door. Charly stood in front of him in her dress, her soft eyes looking up at him, unsmiling.

"You came," he said, half surprised.

"Of course,"

He looked down, "I failed you,"

"Seth," she tilted her head.

"Well," he shook his, "c'mon, someone might see."

She followed him in, watching him carefully as he sat back down on the bed.

"That eye's swelling up,"

"I haven't looked since I got in," he touched it underneath his glasses. "I can't."

"Seth," she said again, sitting down next to him. "It's one match. There will be other Royal Rumbles, other WrestleManias."

"I promised you…"

"I don't care about that. I care about you."

He looked away, unable to meet her gaze. Charly sighed again.

"Let's get something on that eye."

"Kit's in the duffle."

She retrieved the pouch, kneeling on the bed in front of him, the dress riding up on her thighs. His eyes grazed the exposed skin but she didn't seem to notice, pulling his glasses off gently. Dabbing a bit of cream onto her fingers, she gently pressed them to the swollen skin around his right eye. He watched her, unspeaking, and gritted his teeth as she very carefully rubbed in circles. She met his gaze after a moment.

"That hurt?"

He shrugged, "it's going to."

Her lips pursed for a moment before pressing a kiss just to the side on his temple.

"A little better?"

"Not really, Char," he said quietly. She was trying, he knew, but she had no idea, no grasp of what this felt like.

Charly stood, not saying anything else, and put the pouch back into the bag. He inhaled sharply and she turned at the sound.

"I uh. I guess you know that nothing is happening tonight."

"That's okay," she curled up next to him, her legs draped over his lap and her hands running through his hair. "Whatever you need."

"Selfish Seth Rollins at it again,"

"There's always next time," she shook her head. Biting her lip, she tried not to give away her disappointment, how much she really wanted it. But she wasn't the one who took two beatings in a row tonight. She pressed her lips to his ear, "I mean, I'll be thinking about all day but,"

Seth sighed and she backed off, it wasn't helping anything. He tangled his hand in her hair and guided her head to his chest. Listening to his heartbeat, she closed her eyes peacefully. She ran lazy circles over his chest, pushing his shirt up to gently touch the welts that covered his stomach. Her eyes wandered up to Seth's, though it was clear his mind was somewhere else. He looked back at her and frowned.

"What's up?" she asked softly.

"I…" he leaned his head back, his eyes were glistening, she'd never seen him like that before. "They didn't have to do that."

"Hm?"

"She didn't have to kiss him like that. Right in front of me. He already beat me, that was enough. That was plenty."

He looked up at the ceiling, not meeting her gaze. Maybe he knew what he'd see if he did, maybe he could tell her heart was in her throat. She bit her lip, it wasn't about her.

"She knew. She knew exactly how much that would hurt."

Charly's heart was beating out of her chest. It was clear what he wanted right now, and it definitely wasn't her. But she didn't say anything, didn't let on how much his words were stinging. After a while, she sat up and spoke softly.

"It sounds like you need sleep, I'll go."

He grabbed her arm as she started to roll off.

"Stay. Just sleep here."

She looked back to him, his eyes pained and needy. Nodding, she turned her back to him and let him unzip the little cocktail dress. It fell to the floor and his hand lingered on her back lightly but not as nearly as hungry as usual. She could feel his eyes on her as she moved some of his clothes around his suitcase, pulling out a simple white button down.

"This fine?"

"Perfect," his voice was strained, not thick, but still his gaze was heated as she shrugged into it and buttoned a few carelessly. She left it open on her cleavage, trying to regain a bit of control of the situation. It worked a little bit, his eyes not leaving her as she curled back into bed.

"It'll be better tomorrow," she told him, kissing his cheek lightly.

He scoffed, "yeah, right, Char."


	17. Chapter 17

In the morning, Seth stirred and turned in his bed. His chest cried in pain, but he ignored it, sighing to himself. Next to him, Charly's leg was scrunched to her chest creating a P shape with her lower half. His shirt had ridden up on her torso in the night, revealing the blue striped panties beneath. He looked her over again, enjoying the view, because at least if nothing else was right, she was here. Her hair was undone, falling gracefully over the crisp white pillow, and so was his button up. It was held together by just the middle button from the night before, covering enough, but letting the curve of her cleavage spill out the opening. She poked through the thin fabric in little peaks, and the shirt fell open over her stomach. The sight of her made him throb a little. He had wanted so badly last night to make things up to her, give her what he knew he could. But his mind was other places, and his body was in no condition.

She wiggled, her eyes fluttering open slowly through a yawn. Her dark eyes met his and he smiled down at her, she tussled her hair in a hand and ran it down, playing with the collar of the shirt. His gaze followed it and he smirked.

"Lose a couple buttons there?"

Charly held his gaze, not saying anything but smiling smugly.

"I take it you wanted my attention," he bit his lip, running his thumb over one of the puckered nipples, "it worked."

She chuckled, meeting his eye and blushing slightly. "Well…you didn't want me last night. I had to do something."

"That is not true," he pulled her into a rough kiss, and at first she gave in wholly.

She moaned against his mouth and shuttered as his hand ran up her thigh, over the thin cotton fabric, her stomach, and came to rest at the remaining button. He moved his lips to her jaw, then under her ear, while popping the button through the buttonhole and sneaking his hands underneath. Her skin was so soft as he found her breasts and rolled her between his fingers, kissing her neck whole-heartedly. But after a moment, she paused and then pulled away, pushing him back by his chest.

"Seth, Seth, what are we doing?"

His heart dropped, "kissing, I thought?"

Charly shook her head, buttoning up the shirt again. "We can't do this right now."

"I thought you wanted this."

"I did! I thought we could just push past this, but I can't."

"Why?"

"Because last night you were crying over another woman, that's why," she shot at him. She was unbelievably patient all the time, so it took him aback to hear her lose it like that.

He looked down, "I didn't mean,"

"Yes, you did. You said it loud and clear."

"Does it not hurt for you when you see your ex with someone else?" he asked defensively. "Doesn't that sting?"

"Not like that. Not worse than two physical beatings," she shook her head and rolled out of the bed, picking up her dress from the night before.

He sighed, "I was upset last night, I was being dumb. I'm sorry if I made you feel like you weren't wanted. You were. You always are."

She discarded his shirt and zipped back up her dress.

"I wasn't who you wanted last night, Seth,"

"Yes, you were," he insisted, a little frustrated that she hadn't just accepted his apology. "You don't think I've done the limo sex thing with Stephanie?"

"Limo sex?" she scoffed, "is **that** what you want?"

"No! It's not, I want you, Char. I asked you to stay didn't I?"

She looked away, "it just doesn't feel that way since…"

"Since what?" he asked though he knew the answer.

"Since the other night."

"Char, I had to concentrate. I know I wasn't super present the past couple of days but those matches mattered to me."

"It's not about the attention," she crossed her arms, her eyes tearing up. "I just wanna be enough for you."

"What are you talking about?" he asked, stunned.

"You're disappointed," she said plainly.

"I just want-"

"Right. You. It's always about what you want! Never mind that I was happy until you decided it wasn't good enough,"

"You're trying to call me selfish right now?" Now he was getting angry, "I got mine. I was trying to give you needed."

"What you decided I needed. Just admit it, Seth, you want what you want and you can't stand for things to go any different. You wanted me to think you were some sort of sex god, and then last night you wanted to be better than Hunter so that Stephanie would want you, not him. There is nothing selfless in any of it, you don't give a shit what anyone else says."

"Well what do you want, huh Char?" he bolted up from the bed, towering over her. "If you've got something to say, go ahead, I'm all ears," he snarled and immediately felt guilty as she looked away, a tear running down her cheek. He thought about reaching out and wiping it away, but if she was going to bolt, then two could be stubborn.

She took a sharp inhale and quietly said, " I don't know if this is working."

"I think you're wrong."

"Yeah," she nodded, picking up her shoes and turning away, "bet you do."

XXX

An upside to their unique situation, for the most part, they could steer clear of each other at work. People hardly noticed that they weren't together much in catering or backstage. They probably assumed he helped her get settled at Raw and then they lost interest, like freshman year roommates who stopped hanging out after the first month. Aside from their interviews, he hardly even saw her at all. When they were on camera together, he did his best to sound courteous, professional, and tossed in just a bit of flirtiness to match his demeanor before their fight (and because he missed it). But it had been a week, and it was already driving him insane.

"Thank you, Seth," she said into the mic, professionally with her head held high. He nodded with a little smile across his face and the camera's cut. She hardly glanced back at him as she began to unplug.

"That new?" he said quietly, watching her carefully.

"Uh the jacket?" she looked down at the black leather coat draped over a sequined red shift dress and his eyes followed, trying not to linger on the low cut neckline. "Yeah, it is."

"It's nice."

"Thanks," she said shortly, walking away without another look at him.

He sighed, making his way back towards catering, this night could not end soon enough. And just as he thought it, he heard an Irish brogue calling out to him.

"Seth!" Finn Balor came up to him from the direction of the locker room, his hair wet. " 'ow are ya?"

"Hey man," he reached out his hand and pulled him into a hug. He'd missed the Irishman while he'd been away, to be honest.

"I barely seen ya since last week,"

Seth rubbed the back of his neck, guilty. He'd hidden away after his match with Triple H, and was out of the Rumble not long after Finn returned to the biggest pop of the night. Then he'd been all but hiding at Raw, not wanting to bump into Charly, or look into Finn's eyes and have to admit his own disappointment. Finn was an old friend, even if they'd had their differences when he waltzed into the main roster and immediately jumped into the main event. He was a good worker, and a big deal in Japan, but things just didn't work that way here. And now he was the number one contender again, but he only lost the belt because Seth got carried away, so he couldn't help but feel torn.

"I'm sorry, I'm just…dealing with some stuff."

"Sorry 'bout your match with Hunter, you gave 'im one hell of a fight."

"Yeah, well," he sighed.

"Is there…something else?" he asked, looking at him with nervous eyes at what he was expecting Seth to admit. But what was he was supposed to say? _You don't deserve it, Finn, you haven't paid your dues_. How could he own that feeling? So instead he just went with a different truth.

"I uh, girls."

"Oh," Finn had trouble hiding his relief, "I didn't know you were-"

"It wasn't, you know, serious. Just started really, but we had a nasty fight and," he sighed again, "I don't think she's coming back."

"Sorry, mate."

"Thanks,"

"Well if ya wanna forget 'bout her for a bit, a few of us are goin' to dinner and drinks at a place downtown."

"Uh, yeah, sure." It actually would be nice to put her out of his head for a while.

"Maybe one of the waitresses will recognize the famous Seth Rollins again."

"Ha ha ha, perhaps,"

XXX

It worked for a while, sipping on a scotch, he let himself cheat on his diet go for a massive burger. Finn told him and Cesaro stories from his time away, his trip home, and being a part of unveiling the UK Championship. People trickled in, Bayley scooting in next to him at the table and smiling wide at Finn. It wasn't exactly, "Charly? Charly who?" but for the first time in a week, he was having fun.

But after a while of filling up their long table, it all came crashing down. A flash of red caught his eye and he did a double take before leaning in to say something to Finn.

"What's Charly Caruso doing here?"

"Uh, think Noam invited her. Why? You two have a tiff?"

"Yeah, uh, think she's not my biggest fan."

Bayley's eyes flickered over to him suspiciously, but she didn't say anything, and it seemed like that answer sufficed. Finn just shrugged his shoulders. Seth watched as Noam pulled out the chair next to him for her and she laughed, tilting her head and Seth's stomach twisted in a knot. She couldn't possibly be into him, could she? Him. Noam. With his smarmy flirtatious smirks that he gave every girl he laid eyes on and his exaggerated Scottish accent? He was blunt and cunning and oh yeah, one of Seth's oldest friends from his indie days. Why him?

She didn't meet his eye from down the table, he wondered if she even realized he was here. Was she doing it to make him suffer, or was she just blissfully unaware? He admitted that if she really believed she wasn't a priority to him, wasn't what he wanted, then why would he care who she spent her time with? But he did. He cared very much.

Watching it play out was torture. He brushed up against her arm like it was an accident, yeah never seen that one before. She'd taken off the leather jacket and his eyes ran hungrily over her golden skin, he barely bothered to hide it. Their eyes caught and he smiled smugly, saying something as he leaned into her ear. She blushed just the slightest bit, sipping on a margarita. Seth had memorized her body language over the past few months, and she wasn't giving him all of it, but she was definitely enjoying it. Her eyelashes fluttered up at him and she laughed at something he said. Seth tried to read their lips, but the restaurant was loud, starting up a DJ and dance floor, and it was no use. Noam looked behind them as a song started, then back to Charly, raising an eyebrow and saying something that ended in 'dance'. She nodded and smiled, and he took her by the hand off to the floor. Seth's stomach felt like it might explode.

"Ooh, we dancing?" Bayley asked him with a sweet smile.

"No."

An awkward silence hung in their corner for a moment, before Finn cut it.

"I'll dance with you, Bay," he led her to the dance floor, spinning her around.

Seth's eyes were locked on Charly and Noam, who were dancing just a bit too close. She smiled, flipping her hair as he skillfully kept a hand on her waist no matter her movement. Her body pressed to his, a feeling Seth knew so well he could almost feel it himself, and their lips were just far enough apart that they could manage to speak without blatantly kissing. For now. Leaning into his ear, she said something that made him laugh and raise his eyebrows before shaking his head and smirking.

"Seth?" Sasha jolted him out of his thoughts with a nudge. "Are you okay?"

"Of course not."

"Did something happen?"

"She's not dancing with me is she?"

"Hey, I'm trying to help."

"I know, I-" he tilted his head, "I'm sorry, I just don't get it. Why'd she keep me at arm's length for so long and just let him in like that?"

"Maybe she's not letting him in."

"Sure looks like it," his eyes were back on the two of them. Noam leaned into her ear again and he knew the look on her face, the considering all her options look. She looked him in the eye and smiled shyly, something unspoken between them. He left her alone for a moment, heading off in the direction of the bathrooms. "I'll be right back," he said to Sasha.

"Wait, Seth, where are you going?"

He wasn't listening to reason at this point. This plan was nothing short of flawed. In fact, there wasn't much of a plan at all. What was he going to do, confront the guy at the urinal? But he didn't have enough time to even get that far as he pushed through the bathroom door.

Noam was standing at the sink, splashing some water on his face. Maybe he wasn't so confident in this conquest after all. He looked up at Seth in the mirror, reaching for a paper towel to blot the sweat off his face.

"'Ey how's ya night Seth?"

"Not as good as yours apparently," he said crossing his arms.

"Heheh, yeah," he grinned, "she's gorgeous ain't she? 'Ad my eye on dat one for a while."

"Well, maybe you should find someone else."

He raised an eyebrow, "yeah? Why's that?"

"Because she's mine," he grumbled, knowing it was a lie. "And you owe me."

"Heheh, is she aware of dis?" he turned around and smirked, amused with himself. "An' I bought ya a drink for gettin' my stuff in front of Hunter, we're even."

"We had a fight, we're on a break. I'm gonna get her back."

"Sounds like she's gonna do as she likes, mate."

"I'm not telling her, I'm telling you. Back off. She's my girl."

"Ya know what _your girl_ said to me? She whispered right in my ear and asked if I was alright wif bein' a rebound. Trust me, I am. I'll let her rebound all night long, over and over and over again."

He raised his eyebrows and smirked. The two of them always got along well because they were both so competitive but right now it made him want to strangle him.

"You're being a real dick right now,"

"Yeah well, I'm a dick who's gettin' some tonight."

"Oh fuck off Noam."

"Ya the one who came in here to talk to me. But if ya'll excuse me, I've got a beautiful woman waitn' for me to show her a real lover," he pushed past Seth, who's anger had almost faded away into longing. "One thing, though,"

"What?" Seth turned, glaring.

"Does she like it rough? Seems like the type that'd secretly love ta get tied up. Ah, no matter. When I'm through wif her she won' be able to get enough."

That did it. Something snapped inside him. Maybe it was hearing someone talk about her that way, like she was just a toy, not a person. But probably, if it was honest, it was his own feelings of inadequacy, that maybe Noam could satisfy her in a way couldn't. Either way, his legs were carrying him towards Noam in a flash and he felt his fist connecting with Noam's nose.

They crashed down into the hallway and Noam fought back, kicking him off and returning the punches. There were screams and shouts around them but Seth didn't care. Noam had gotten over him, pulling him down by his long hair and Seth pushed back, his anger boiling over. He clawed at Noam's face, trying to get him off. After a moment that was no longer an issue, as someone pulled him off of Seth and two pairs of arms pulled him up from the floor.

He flipped his hair out of his face, and shouted, "fuck you, Noam!"

"Yeah well, fuck ya too, mate," he shouted back from Finn's tight grasp.

"Seth!" Sasha shouted in his ear, tightening her grip on his left arm, "enough!"

She and Bayley struggled to pull him away from Noam, and he realized a crowd had formed around them. He looked over his shoulder, trying to catch his breath. Charly stood at the front, her arms crossed tightly over her chest. She met his eye, a worried, confused look on her face. Looking over to Noam, then back to him, she shook her head. Now he'd done it. If there was a way back to her heart, it definitely wasn't this.

Sasha and Bayley got him out of the restaurant and threw him into an Uber, forcing him in the middle seat as if they were afraid he'd roll out of the car and run back in for another punch. They were steaming and he hung his head, it was just the start of how much he'd pay for this.

"Did it at least look like I was winning?"

"No."

XXX

A/n: Long chapter, I know, but their break-off needed some drama. No hate to Noam, but we all know he's our lovable villain (and stealing everybody's girlfriends).


	18. Chapter 18

"I don't think I need to tell either of you that you represent WWE at **all** times," Stephanie looked down her nose at Seth and Noam, "do I?"

"No, Stephanie," Seth said quietly, his arms crossed. He shifted uncomfortably on the office couch next to Noam. "We're sorry."

"Suck up," Noam muttered to a glare from Stephanie. "Kiddin', obviously. We're sorry we embarrassed the company wif our little scuffle," he smirked at Seth as he said it.

"Oh damn right the two of you are sorry. You know one of the patrons at that bar caught it on their phone, it's already all over Twitter."

"What do you need, Steph?" Seth leaned in on his elbows, "public apologies? Ring crew duty? We'll make it right."

"Both actually,"

"Hang on," Noam furrowed his brow, "I got jumped, why am I gettin' the same punishment?"

"Noam I've seen the video, and all the witness at the restaurant saw both of you hitting each other. Don't try to get out of this."

"Not my fault Rollins is a sore loser," he scoffed.

Seth bit his lip, trying not to make things any worse than it already was.

"I really don't care who punched first or why. Run your statements past HR before you tweet them. Seth, you know the drill."

"Oh, I know the drill," he grumbled, trying not to relive waking up to a thousand messages about his private photos.

"Well. In that case, you're free to go."

Noam huffed and left the room, but as Seth was at the door she called him back.

"Fighting over women again?" she said with a smirk in her voice.

"Can't help myself it would seem," he responded.

"Well do us all a favor and don't put your hands on the football coach."

"The what?"

"The flag football coach? Her ex-boyfriend? She didn't tell you…"

"Oh, the guy from Orlando. I didn't know he coached football."

"He doesn't just coach football," she laughed, "he was her coach. He used to come to all the NXT tapings to see her, guess they didn't hang out enough at practice. She seems to have an affinity for men who can help her get ahead."

Seth's eyes narrowed, "what, are you just doing this to be hurtful now?"

"I'm just telling you the truth, which seems to be more than she's done."

"Yeah, well, thanks," he said sarcastically, turning away. He paused at the door though, a smirk forming on his face, "sleeping with men to get ahead? Aw Steph, it's cute when you project."

Leaving with the last word, he found Charly sitting on a production crate just down the hall. Noam leaned his arm against the wall, looking down and her with a smirk. Seth cleared his throat as he approached them.

"Ah Seth, Charly here was just waitin' for me to get outta our dressin' down."

"Was she now?"

"Uh actually, Seth and I have sit-down," she said uncomfortably.

"That we do," he sneered at Noam.

"Well I'm sure ya'll be quick."

"Oh is that so," he glared at Noam but didn't dare to get his face. "Big talk, no game, Noam.

"But she's so polite, she'll never say a word. Ain't that right, beautiful Charly?" Noam smirked.

His temper flared, barely able to stop himself from grabbing his throat. He opened his mouth to shoot something back but was cut off by Charly, leaping to her feet.

"We are **not** doing this."

"Aw just having a spot of fun, love,"

"I'm done with both of you, if that wasn't clear last night. Are we going?"

"After you," he said quietly and gave her some space as she walked down the hall, her heels clicking.

As they rounded the corner to the interview room, they realized they'd still beaten the crew in. She glanced at her watch and took her seat, sighing.

"We're a few minutes early."

"Yeah." He sat down across from her, she wasn't meeting his eye, so he spoke softly. "I only hit him because he said something gross about you,"

Her eyes flickered up to him, uncertain.

"I just…thought you should know that."

"Is that supposed to make it okay?"

"No. No, I just," he shook his head, "wanted you to know it wasn't about me. It was about you."

"I didn't ask you to do that. You should know that."

"I do know that. I didn't… didn't do it because I thought I'd win you back. It's just-" he sighed, "why him, Char? Yeah he's good-looking and women are always fawning over his accent but c'mon, he's only after the sex."

"And what're you after, Seth?"

"Don't give me that, I stuck around for months without it."

"What, you want a cookie?"

He bit his lip, "I'm not the one who decided this was through, Char."

"Look, it doesn't matter, I'm done with wrestlers for a while."

"Or athletes in general?"

"What?" her eyes shot up to him.

"Your ex, Mark? He was a football guy?"

"Yeah uh, he bench warmed at FSU and then got into coaching high school and club sports."

"Like your flag football team?"

"What does that have to do with any of this?"

He shrugged, "just wondering if it was true."

"If you're implying-"

"I'm not implying anything. Just saying you haven't had a lot of luck as of late with us athletes."

"Right." She looked off and he realized he had upset her, but before he could apologize, three camera guys and a producer entered the room and started setting up. "We're talking about your loss to Triple H," she muttered softly as she flipped through her notes.

He looked up at her, surprised she had offered the information.

"Thanks,"

"Yeah."

XXX

Later in the week, he sat in Bayley's living room, twirling Chinese take out around his chopsticks. She was watching him carefully, neither of them had said a word after they ran out of small talk. It was clear she was pissed still, Sasha had outright refused to see him, telling him point blank she'd rather spend the night with her husband than babysitting his sorry ass. Bayley had invited him over for a movie night just like always, but she didn't pull punches when it came to letting him know he was far from forgiven. Eventually, she sighed and spoke.

"Are you ever going to tell me what happened?"

"Do we have to rehash this Bay? I lost my girl, I'm up shit's creek at work over it, and after losing to H at Rumble, I'm floundering. That's what happened."

"So you and Charly are…"

"Done. According to her."

"You must've really pissed her off."

"Yeah. Must've."

Bayley sighed again, "you're not giving me anything here."

"Why do you even care? Selfish Seth Rollins fucked up yet another good thing, alert the presses."

"Because I care about you, and you know that's not true."

He looked down and spoke softly, "I couldn't handle not being good enough, and I ended up making her feel like she was the one who wasn't."

"You can fix that,"

"I don't think she wants to hear it, Bay. Plus punching Noam in the jaw didn't help my case, now she just thinks I can't control my anger and try to solve my problems by punching them away."

"Well…"

"Exactly."

"Oh don't play the woe is me card, Seth. Don't sit here and sulk about how you're not enough, how you ruined the best thing you ever had, and you'll never be happy again. You want her back? Go get her."

Seth paused, looking at her, speechless.

"I've never heard you talk to me like that."

"Yeah well," she crossed her arms, looking very smug with herself, "I'm working on my assertiveness."

"You think I can just go and get her back?"

"Just…tell her the truth. That's all you can do. Sitting in my living room moping isn't going to help. You want her back?"

"More than anything."

"Then go. Tell her the truth."

XXX

Charly ran a brush through her ironed curls carefully. They fell softly and she adjusted each one. It wasn't really about her hair being perfect for tonight, she just needed something to get her out of her own head. Micromanaging her ringlets was a pretty solid way of doing that. As she made her way around her head, she tried to push away the uncertainty building in her stomach and all the other nagging thoughts of Seth and Noam. This is what she wanted.

Flipping her head over, she shook it out and the smoothed it down. She dabbed a red lipstick onto her lips and smudged it with her finger and took a deep breath looking in the mirror. It was as close to perfect as she was going to get, she always missed the makeup crews when she was forced to survive on her own. Looking herself over in the mirror, she realized what she was wearing. It was the same black velvet mini dress she'd had on the night that Braun grabbed her. She turned around looked over her shoulder at her back, the rope burn had lasted for a while, but now it was completely heeled. There was no evidence of the night that Seth had carried her home and insisted on staying, or how he ended up sneaking his hand down between her legs and made her squirm at his touch. It made her stomach flutter a bit to think about that night, his lips warm on her neck, holding her close to his body as he explored. She couldn't help herself but smile.

The doorbell snapped her out of her thoughts and she shook off the desire building in her core. One last adjustment to her hair and she opened the front door of her condo. A tall, trim man stood in front of her, holding a bouquet of flowers.

"Hi," he smiled.

"Hey Jackson, c'mon in,"

"These are for you," he handed her the flowers as he followed her into the hallway.

"They're beautiful, I have a vase in the kitchen,"

"You look beautiful," he smiled nervously.

"Thank you," she filled a vase with water, "you clean up pretty nice. This place isn't too fancy, is it?"

"No, no it's nice but not stuffy."

"Good, she trimmed the edges of the flowers, not paying too much attention to it being perfect. "How's work been?"

"Good, did Sara tell you about that big bust we just made?"

"Uhh no, she hadn't."

"Well we're not allowed to share details but we got a big weed dealer selling to the high school kids. Full signed confession."

"Wow that's awesome,"

"Yeah…uh what about you?"

"Oh same old same old," she nodded for him to follow back into the hall where she slipped on a pair of pumps. "The more things change in the WWE, the more they stay the same."

"Hmm," he smiled and Charly's heart pounded. Dammit, how did they run through all of their small talk before they had even gotten out the door?

"Ready?"

He smiled and nodded, making their way down the front steps of her condo. She locked the door behind them and he let out a low whistle looking off down the street.

"That's a beauty of a car over there,"

"Hmm," she pretended to look over, not really interested in any of her neighbor's expensive cars, but as soon as she saw it she did a double take. "That a Tesla?"

"Yeah I've never seen one on the road before."

Charly looked away quickly, suddenly nervous. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw it speed off down the road.

"Shall we?"

XXX

On Monday, he was filling up a cup of coffee at catering when she caught sight of him. He looked up and then immediately looked away, seeing her. She came up behind him, grabbing a coffee cup herself.

"Hi,"

His head snapped up like he was surprised she was talking to him at all.

"Hi. Um," he cleared his throat, "how're you?"

"I'm alright, be better after coffee," she poured herself a cup and he eyed her carefully.

"Yeah I feel that."

"Um, this is weird," she said, shaking a sugar into her cup, "but-"

"Yeah?" he visibly gulped.

"I saw a black Tesla outside my condo the other day. Those are pretty rare, aren't they?"

He sighed, "they're uncommon."

"And I don't exactly have your license plate memorized but I'm pretty sure…"

"Just say it, Char,"

"Were you hanging out around my house?"

Seth rubbed the back of his neck, "I came over to talk to you, and I was still working up the courage when Ken showed up."

"He does not look like a Ken doll."

"He kind of does," he chuckled, "uh, so I dunno, I got spooked and took off."

"You wanted to talk?"

"Apologize. For the whole Noam thing."

"Oh."

"But you had a date and I felt really stupid so."

"Don't," she made her way through the catering tables and he followed, "it was just bad timing."

"That all?"

"You wanted to talk?"

"Yeah I…." he bit his lip, "I lost my temper with him. I thought teaching him a lesson would somehow fix how you felt but, that isn't how this works I guess. Look, if you wanna mess around with a guy like Noam, I'm not gonna to try to stop you. You're smart, you make good choices."

"I'm not getting involved with a guy like Noam. It was just…"

"A bit of fun?" he said sadly.

She tilted her head, "please don't make me feel guilty about this."

"I'm not."

"If it helps I didn't realize he was your friend. I didn't even know you were going to be there."

"Didn't stop you from dancing with him."

She inhaled sharply, "I just wanted to forget about what happened between us."

"Trust me, I'd like to do that too." He shook his head, "did you have fun? On your date?"

"Uhh yeah, it was nice."

"Which friend of a friend was that?"

"That was the cop."

"You saw him again?" he raised his eyebrows.

"He got reservations to a restaurant opening downtown."

"Ah. Hence the little cocktail dress."

She blushed a little, knowing he was thinking the exact same thing she was about that black dress.

"Sorry your plan didn't work out."

He shook his head again, "don't be. Are we good?"

"Yeah, we're good," her heart sank a little bit seeing how easily he was walking away, but at least he was listening this time.

Seth nodded, "I'll see you later then, Charly,"


	19. Chapter 19

Seth and Noam were finishing the last of their ring crew licks two weeks later, and truth be told, the quality time had largely repaired their friendship. Noam was just a kid when he'd come into Seth's ring on the indie circuit, and Seth had always respected his gutsiness. They were never going to get along 100% of the time, and they were always going to want what the other one had.

He nodded to Noam on his way out of the arena.

"Hey, Seth!" Noam jogged after him, "will ya come with me for a second?"

"Uh, sure? What's this about?"

"I have a way ta solve all our problems, Sethie-boy."

He groaned, "I do not like the sound of this," but he followed Noam to a back interview room, where Charly was sitting by herself, going over some notes. "Are we apologizing?"

"Sometin' like that," he smirked, "Charly, darlin,'"

She looked up, "hi?" Her eyes flickered over to Seth and he gave her and uncertain glance.

"Seth an' I have a proposal for ya,"

"We do?"

"Yes," Noam sent him a look, "we do. We know it's been mighty confusin' for ya, having two strapping lads such as ourselves vyin' for your affections."

"What?" Charly raised an eyebrow and Seth gave her a little shrug.

"So, we're willin' to make it so that you don't have ta choose."

Seth side-eyed Noam but kept his face straight. If this was Noam's plan, well, he wasn't going to sabotage it.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Ya can have both of us," he said with a smirk, "ain't that right, Seth?"

Seth scoffed and looked to Charly's shocked face, "if that's what you want," he said softly.

"Why would-"

"Why?" Noam laughed, "two of us all to yourself? Tell me ya haven't thought about it, love. Twice the lips, twice the hands to touch you, twice the-"

"Oh don't be crude, Noam," Seth said, annoyed. She had that look on her face, her lips pursed and her eyes narrowed, like maybe part of it was sounding pretty good, but she knew better.

He bit his lip and smirked, "I think ya get the drift Charly. Anythin' you want, all for you. All ya have to do is say yes, and we are all yours."

"Not a chance."

Noam opened his mouth to convince her, but Seth didn't give him the opportunity, giving him a smack on the back out of his head.

"She's not into it, get out of here."

He sighed, "worth a shot. Always on the table, Charly." He smirked and walked off, leaving Seth alone with her for the first time in weeks. Turning towards her, her gaze was fixed on him.

"I didn't know where he was going with that."

"You didn't seem to protest too much," she said with a little laugh.

"I…" he laughed, there was no denying it, "I'd do anything to be with you like that again."

"Even sleep with Noam," she teased.

"I was trying not to think about the sharing part."

She laughed, "or the competing? You know he'd make eye contact just to prove his dominance."

"You are really amused by this,"

"I really am," she grinned and rolled her eyes, "why he thought that would work is-"

"Yeah well, he doesn't know the full story. He doesn't know why we broke up."

"Broke up?" she raised an eyebrow. "Don't you think we'd have to have been together first?"

His heart dropped a bit, and he tried not to show it on his face.

"I thought we were."

"We weren't," she said, suddenly serious.

"Good to know, Char." He inhaled sharply, "I'll let you get back to your work, then."

He turned and made for the door, constantly hoping she'd call him back. That she'd say it was a mistake, that they could make it right. But she never did.

XXX

Morning broke outside the window before Monday Night Raw and Charly groaned. Her hand reached out across the crisp white sheets, feeling around for a moment. It took her a moment to realize there was nothing there and of course there wouldn't be. Seth hadn't been beside her for a month now. Plus the incident with him and Noam had made her think twice about jumping into bed to try to get over him. There was Jackson, he was fine. Better than fine, that wasn't fair, he was sweet and thoughtful, he had a good job and would fit into her family with ease. He was stable, he was simple, and he was so goddamn boring.

She sighed and looked up at the ceiling. WrestleMania had allowed her to avoid her current relationship situation for the most part. But tonight was the go-home for Fastlane, which meant she really only had one more month of that excuse. At that point, she'd either have to just do it or cut him loose. He'd already started dropping hints that he was looking for a serious relationship, she could only keep him at arms-length for so long.

Her phone alarm started buzzing, and she sat up, running her hands through her tangled hair. Maybe it wasn't wrestlers or athletes she needed a break from, maybe it was guys in general. The phone was buzzing again, Sasha was running late. Charly chuckled to herself, not letting her know that she'd pushed it the extra fifteen minutes of sleep.

Throwing on jeans and a t-shirt, she figured she could change once she got to the arena and was just not in the mood for back center zippers right now. Downstairs in the café, the mere smell of coffee started to wake her up. It'd be a long tour so far, everyone had warned her how crazy the road to WrestleMania would be, but you really had to be in the thick of it yourself.

Sasha had just ordered herself a coffee and waved from a seat by the window. Charly joined her once her own piping hot latte came, sighing deeply into the steam.

"Hey girl," she slid into the chair across the table.

"Uh, what are you wearing?"

"Didn't feel like being in the dress all day so I threw on…oh shit," she looked down at the t-shirt she'd absent-mindlessly grabbed. It was one that Seth had gotten for her, the merch guys let him have as many of his own shirt as he liked. So the words _Seth Freakin' Rollins_ were plastered across her chest.

"How did that even end up in your suitcase?" Sasha asked with a small laugh, trying to make light of it as Charly's cheeks flushed.

"I, uh, I guess it just was in my laundry, I started packing from whatever was clean…" she shook her head, "just a coincidence."

"Or a Freudian slip?"

"No, definitely the first."

"Well don't let him catch sight of you in that, he'll think it's some secret message that you wanna come back to him."

"Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of," she glanced around nervously.

"He's at the gym this morning. Bayley went with him."

"So are you two cool again?"

"Yeah," Sasha sighed, "how long can you stay mad at him for being an idiot right?"

"Well-"

"Okay, how long can **I** stay mad at him for being an idiot? I'm not the one he screwed things up with."

"Did I tell you Noam offered to let me have both?"

"Both?"

"Of them."

"In bed?" She laughed, "what'd you say?"

"No chance in hell."

"Wow. What did Seth have to say about that one?"

"Noam blindsided him. But he would've gone along with it to get me in bed."

"I'm sure he didn't mean it like-"

"Yeah me too, but that's what it boiled down to. So I threw it back in his face."

Sasha looked out the window, unspeaking for a moment. "I'm sorry it didn't work out for you guys, you were really good for each other."

"You actually think Seth was good for me?"

"I think…I think he was good to you. Or at least he wanted to be. But it's hard for him to sit still and sometimes it's his undoing."

Charly sighed and glanced at her watch, "I better go change before we head to the arena, I can't show up in this."

"No way, Seth might have a heart attack,"

XXX

After the loss to Triple H, Stephanie had been taunting him about his future endeavors. She just loved to boast, always had.

"It's really not my problem that your stock in this company has dropped off the face of the planet, Seth.

"Don't be cute, Steph, I gave Triple H one hell of a fight."

"This is wrestling, in case you haven't noticed, all that matters is wins in the record books."

"Look, Stephanie," Finn cut in, they'd been arguing back and forth, largely ignoring that he was even there. "I wanna fight Seth. I wanna redo, I'm sure Seth feels the same."

"Brooklyn was a little disappointing," he agreed.

"An' I coulda done so much more if my arm wasn't outta its socket for the last ten minutes"

"Wow listen to that, Seth, he says he could've beaten you worse than he already did."

"I'd like to see him try,"

"I'm not puttin' up my condership, but I'd be willin' to make it a triple threat at Mania if he wins on Sunday."

"Kevin will never agree to that."

"Why does it matter what Kevin wants?" Seth scoffed, "as I recall, you have absolutely no problem putting people in matches that they don't want. How many times have you forced JeriKO on me? Huh, Steph?"

"Don't talk to me that way, Rollins,"

"Oh I'll talk to you however I please if you're gonna be a brat like this."

"A brat? I'd watch my tongue if I were you. You might find yourself fighting the Golden Truth on Sunday. "

"Punishing people who defy you? Groundbreaking, Steph, just groundbreaking."

"You are not helping your case here,"

"I'm not gonna get on my knees and beg for this. You know this match-up is a draw and at the end of the day you need to be thinking about your bottom line," his temper was bubbling, the words were just pouring out of his mouth, "I don't care what you think of me Steph, I'm one of the best damn workers you have on this roster **and** one of the biggest names so you can't treat me like I'm not worth shit!"

There was an awkward silence that fell over the room for a second. Finn was eyeing him carefully, an eyebrow raised, and eventually he turned to Stephanie.

"If I get Kevin to agree, can we have the stipulation?"

She took her piercing eyes off of Seth to look at Finn, chuckling she said, "sure. If you can manage that."

"Thank you, Stephanie," he nodded his head respectfully and turned for the door.

"Yeah, thanks, Steph," Seth said too, following him out the door.

Finn closed it behind them and turned his gaze to Seth.

"What the 'ell was that, mate?"

"Stephanie needs a firm hand, she always has. It worked didn't it?"

"Uh, no, actually. I'm the one who got her to agree. Not you."

"Okay, okay, fair. Thank you. We're gonna steal the show on Sunday."

"I'm not worried 'bout that, Seth, I'm worried 'bout how I just found myself in the middle of some lover's quarrel."

"It's complicated," he admitted, "I just lost my temper,"

"I'm saying this because you're my friend, lad, get it together. You're gonna shoot yourself in the foot pullin' that garbage."

"Yeah," Seth sighed, "I know."

"C'mon," he nodded towards the locker room.

"Where are we going?"

"Gettin' you ya stipulation," he said, opening the locker room door. "Sami! I need a favor,"

XXX

Sunday night Seth sat by himself on a production crate, hyping himself up. His music blared through his headphones as he sipped on his water bottle and closed his eyes. Finn's plan had worked, Sami would do just about anything for Finn and Kevin would do anything for Sami. No one was doing any of it for Seth. Still, he couldn't think about that, he had a match to worry about. The last time he fought Finn, he'd lost to a man who essentially had one hand tied behind his back. He loved Finn, but he did not take well to the idea that he couldn't beat him. It was a friendly competition, but it meant everything to Seth.

His eyes opened slowly and he immediately jumped out of his skin.

"Jeez!" he pulled his headphones down

"Sorry!" Charly cringed, "I was trying to uh, get your attention there. Sorry,"

"Nah, nah," he caught his breath and sighed, "it's okay. Hi,"

"Hey,"

"Um, do you need me for something?" he asked, knowing she hadn't exactly been willingly talking to him much recently.

"No, no, I just, um, came by to say good luck."

He sighed and smiled, "thank you. That... means a lot to me."

"I actually, well, I feel kind of weird about the Noam situation."

"It's kind of a weird situation."

"I feel like maybe I made light of it and made it seem like I thought the whole thing was a big joke."

"Ah it's alright, that was all Noam anyway. I was just along for the ride. I'm not saying I would've stopped it that's what you wanted but I was pretty sure that wasn't really the issue."

"You're right about that."

"I would've given you anything you wanted."

"I think we're past fixing this with sex, Seth, don't you?"

"Yeah, of course." He bit his lip, hearing Bayley's voice telling him to just tell her the truth, but pushing it away even still. "Noam's used to solving his problems with smoldering looks."

"Well, he doesn't know me very well." She met his gaze and held it steady, "I'm not really good at sharing either."

A sly smile broke out on her face and he matched it, but before he could try and capitalize on her flirtatious comment, she was already walking away. For a moment he let himself imagine her underneath him, dressed only in sheets and moaning his name. Hell, it was a pretty fantastic thought, Noam coming up with this idea to get Charly in bed only to find that Seth's was the only name on her lips. That made him chuckle to himself, but it faded away once he remembered that it wasn't real and he wasn't even hearing that sound ever again. He shook it off, he didn't need to be thinking about Charly right now, or the perfect murmurs she'd whisper in his ear. It wasn't doing him any good, she had made it clear that she had long since walked away from this. Maybe it was time he did too.


	20. Chapter 20

For the first time since Charly broke his heart, Seth was finally, finally feeling good. Finn and him had gone for 20 minutes and it was brutal, but when all was said and done, Finn shook his hand and held it up in the middle of the ring. He had his WrestleMania match, a chance to get his hands on the Universal Championship, and everyone was starting to treat him like he was the man again. Sasha had come around about his stupid incident with Noam, and Bayley was un-pushy about how she felt he should try to get Charly back. Charly didn't exactly seek him out, but she also wasn't outright avoiding him anymore. It wasn't like he had washed his hands at her, but he was at least being a functional person now and could stand to be around her.

She'd gotten tight with Bayley and Sasha, which he used to joke was his biggest nightmare. Now it served as an excuse to spend time with her, though neither of them were jumping at the opportunity to be alone together. It felt good just to hear her laugh.

The four of them sat in catering, chatting before the show. Well, the girls were chatting, Charly stopped as soon as he started, so he backed down. Xavier waved from across the room and made his way over.

"How's it going?"

"Hey Xavier,"

"You all excited for the annual Rollins extravaganza?" he asked, sitting next to Seth.

"Annual Rollins extravaganza?" Charly looked from one to another.

"Every year we go to Buffalo at this time," Xavier explained, "the past couple Seth had a bunch of people stay at his place and blow off some steam, it was a lot of fun."

"Sasha's done some things she's not proud of at that party," Bayley teased.

"Will you stop? We get drunk and play video games, calm down."

"I beat her bad, too," Xavier laughed.

"I don't do well when I'm impaired, okay!" Sasha crossed her arms, grumpily.

"Anyway, it's great. You coming this year, Charly?"

"Oh, I, uh," she looked around nervously for help.

"You can," Seth attempted to save her, "if you want."

"We'll see."

"Cool, it's a fun time. Now Seth if you'll excuse your girls I have to steal them for Sasha Bayley 4 on Up Up Down Down. Ladies?"

"See ya later guys," Bayley took one glance back at him as they left the two of them alone together. Just the place they did not like to be. He wasn't sure was she was thinking, but he was definitely missing her harder whenever they shared a close space alone.

"You should feel welcome, by the way," he said after a moment and to a quick snap of her head. "If you wanted to come next week. I know you're close to the girls, especially Sasha, and she'll just stick my head on a pike if I make you feel like you couldn't."

"Um yeah, okay."

"Okay? Okay. I'll text you my address."

XXX

Charly caught a ride with Sasha and Bayley from the arena a week later in Buffalo. It was still a good hour to Seth's house, but the two kept the conversation away from him. They were pretty good about that, they made it clear that they weren't about to take sides and that if she wanted to talk about it, that was up to her. She wasn't in the mood, especially knowing she'd be sleeping in his guest room or on his couch tonight. Honestly, she didn't really wanna go, but all of their friends were going to and she felt it would be obvious to not show.

By the time they got to his door, she'd already talked herself out of this whole thing, but he greeted all of them and invited them into the large house. It wasn't exactly John Cena's mansion, but it was a big place, with a sprawling staircase in the entry and a huge open great room with ceilings that seemed to go on forever.

"What're you ladies drinking?" he asked as they got to the stainless steel and marble kitchen.

"Uh Seth, don't be rude, Charly hasn't been here before."

He sighed, "okay, this is the kitchen, that's the great room where the Playstation is. My office is in here," he lead them to one side of the house, "complete with punching bag,"

"Classy,"

"Very," he chuckled, looking over his shoulder, he seemed to realize they lost Sasha and Bayley, she wasn't really surprised. "This is the living room and that's the dining room, I don't really use either. Up these stairs," he made his way up the staircase, "Bedroom, bathroom, bedroom, bathroom, and this is the master, ensuite and his and hers closets. So one closet for my clothes and one for my shoes."

"Wow, this place is huge," she said, leaning against the doorway of the master bedroom and trying not to let her eyes linger on his dark gray sheets.

"Yeah well," he sighed, "it wasn't meant to be all for me." He rubbed the back of his neck, "I uh, we were going to raise our kids here."

"I'm sorry," she said softly.

He shook his head, "I've been trying to sell the place for years, but the market's been bad. So until then, it's good for giant sleepovers,"

"It's a beautiful house."

"Mhmm, I know. Uh there's the three guest rooms up here, know you girls you probably could squeeze two or three to one of those beds, and there're couches in the great room and the living room has a pull out so…" he cleared his throat.

"No one has to bunk with you," she finished for him.

"I paid for the booze,"

"Fair."

"C'mon, I could use a drink,"

Later, Seth's house was full of their friends. Finn, Sami, Noam (who kept trying to catch her eye). Charlotte and Dana. Cesaro, Sheamus, the entire New Day, Neville and Rich Swan rounded out the crusierweights, though Neville had been in a mood as of late. Last, Roman arrived, having stayed behind at work to Facetime with the family before he got on the road. It was crowded, but it was fun to see everyone in a totally different environment. Sure enough, the booze was flowing and they turned the lights off to do a group-play through of a scary video game. Sasha's hand had tightened around Charly's arm as she screamed, but Seth kept his distance, not taking advantage to get next to her. Cesaro also had blocked Noam out on her right, and Bayley behind her. Sasha screamed again at a jump scare and Charly laughed, letting her friend dig her nails into her skin.

"Are you sure you're the one who gets punched in the face for your job?"

"Shut up," she said, burying her face in Charly's shoulder.

They got a fair amount through the campaign when it started getting late and people were calling it a night. Roman had already claimed half a bed in one of the spare rooms, and Seth told them not to drink anything too expensive as he went up to bed himself. She hadn't been prepared for the scramble for beds and showers that would soon take place once everyone admitted it was time to wind down and just drink and talk. The hairspray in her hair was getting crinkly as she wandered around the second floor with her toiletry bag, looking for a shower with no success. Eventually, she sighed and knocked on the master suite door.

"Yeah?" he called.

She took a deep breath and opened it. It was a bit of a gray-area to take advantage of their history like this, but she really, really needed a shower.

"Hey uh," she said as she poked her head in the door. Seth was stretched out in bed, reading, and his eyes flickered up to the sound of her voice. "the fight for showers is unreal, I really hope you've got a good hot water heater."

He chuckled, "uh yeah?"

"So can I?"

"Oh," he looked to the door of his bathroom, "sure, I was about to be in and out of there a bit."

She shrugged, "shower curtain?"

"Frosted glass."

"Good enough for me,"

He watched as she made her way across his room and closed the door behind her. As the water started to run, he tapped on the door gently.

"You good?" he called.

"Yup," she called back and he slowly opened the door of his master bathroom. Her clothes were folded neatly on a stool and behind the glass of the shower, the fuzzy outline of her body was obscured.

He had wanted her every day since she left, but never quite this badly. Trying to push it out of his mind, he brushed his teeth in the sink, but his eyes kept finding their way back to Charly as she tipped her head back under the water. At least as he washed his face he had to close his eyes, but as he opened them again she was still there, perfect, and he missed her so much.

Sighing, he leaned up against the wall next to the shower.

"Char?"

"Uh yeah?"

"Can I just… if I just talk, will you just listen?"

She was silent for a moment, "okay."

He gulped and just let it all out.

"I'm the one who's not good enough, baby, not you. I put all of this pressure on myself to perform…at work, in the bedroom, and I know, I know that that's not a gauge of how well I'm doing. And maybe it's selfish, you know, that need to pleasure you so well that you can't even contain yourself anymore. Maybe that is about me and my stupid ego, and so, I'm sorry. I should've just listened when you told me how it was, I got all caught up in needing that to be perfect because I spent all that time chasing after you. But that wasn't what it should've been about."

He gasped for air, his heart beating out of his chest. She'd stopped moving under the water but hadn't said anything.

"Look, Char, I get caught up in my own bullshit sometimes, I know it, you know it. I've got to do better, I know that too. But…not being good enough, it eats me up inside. It consumes me. I gotta stop letting it get to me, but I'm not there yet, and losing to Hunter just killed my self-esteem. That night I was a mess, I'm not denying it, but the only person who I wanted next to me was you. Not Stephanie, not anyone else, you. And I don't know why I convinced myself that I can't tell you something like that but…at the moment it was easier to walk away. But, it got harder and harder every day to stay away from you. I'm sorry. Tell me what to do to make it right and I'll do it. Anything."

He sighed, out of breath and out of words. The silence was louder than anything he'd ever heard before in his life. Only the water falling to the tile floor filled the room.

"Charly? Please…say something?" his heart was in his throat and his stomach was in all sorts of knots. "Anything?"

She didn't. Instead, the shower door slid open slowly and Seth looked her over, trying to catch his breath.

"You wanna join me in here?"

A smile broke out across his face, and in an instant, his shorts were around his ankles and he was stepping into the shower with her. With a hand on her waist and one against the wall, he pinned her hips with his and pressed his lips to hers. She giggled as he pulled her under the shower stream, the heat making it hard to breathe. Pushing back against his mouth, she let her hands run over his toned shoulders and looped a leg around his. When they finally came up for air, she laughed and ducked out of the hot water.

"I forgot how good that felt."

"I didn't." He pulled her back in, rougher this time, his lips eager and hungry, making up for lost time. "You good?" he murmured in her ear.

"If you are,"

"Aw baby, I'm always ready," he smirked and hiked her up against the wall.

"Mmm," she leaned her head back as he went to work, careful not to let her bang against the wall of the shower. "Oh Seth."

"Fuck," he growled, "say that again."

"Hmm?"

"Charly," he groaned.

"I didn't catch that," she teased, and was met with fast thrusts from him that made her cry out and grasp at his hair. "Seeeth," she gasped for air.

"Ha ha ha that's right."

"Oh get over yourself Rollins," she managed through moans.

"I just missed that sound," he kissed her once, "so," and then again, "so much, my beautiful Charly."

"Yours?"

"Mine."

She smiled, she couldn't help it, she didn't want to bolt anymore. All she wanted was him in this moment with the steam rising between them. He kissed her neck and she gave into the moan, taking in the feeling of his disproportioned biceps as he flexed for her. She wanted to feel every inch of his body, it was well passed the point of pretending that she didn't miss it, all of it. Seth ground his hips against hers and she wrapped the other leg around him too.

"Ahhh, want it rough do we?" he smiled smugly, beginning to pound into her quickly.

The friction felt amazing until he lost his balance and slid across the floor slightly. They caught themselves, his wrist tightly around her arm as her feet came down and she wedged herself in the corner.

"Jeez-"

Charly laughed, "maybe that's enough shower sex for one night."

"Yeah," he grumbled, turning off the stream and reaching outside of the door.

Surprisingly gingerly, he wrapped a towel around her body, warming her up with the heat from his body before grabbing one for himself. She paused in the bathroom to tie her hair up in a small bun while Seth dug in his t-shirt drawer.

"This one okay?" he asked, holding up that very _Seth Freakin' Rollins_ shirt in a men's large.

She giggled, "yeah that's fine."

"Okay," he tossed it on the bed, "you'll have to come get it," he teased.

"In a minute, gosh."

Seth smirked to himself, but was soon distracted by a knock at the door. He opened it just enough to see Bayley on the other side.

"Hey, Sash wants to know if-" she stopped, he hadn't been as careful as he meant to, she was looking over his shoulder at Charly draped in one of his blue towels, making her way to his bed to put on his t-shirt. "Uh, never mind. We'll figure it out."

"You sure?"

"Oh I'm sure,"

"Night Bay,"

"Night Seth," she smirked at him as he closed the door behind him.

"What was that about?" Charly asked innocently as she dropped the towel to the floor and pulled his shirt over her head.

"We're busted."

"Oh no," she teased.

"I wasn't gonna kiss and tell."

"You're a liar," she laughed, sliding a pair of panties underneath it and lying down between his sheets. "You tell them everything."

"I do not!" he scooted into a pair of boxers and crawled onto the bed next to her.

"Yes, you do."

"Well what should I tell them? When I tell them all about it?"

"I uh…"

"Sleep on it," he pulled the comforter over the two of them and press his lips to her neck. "Cancel your flight tomorrow, stick around,"

"Seth," she protested.

"Oh what do you have to do? Some laundry? See the cop for coffee?"

"Well…"

"So cancel."

"Seth,"

"Charly." He sat up, "are you serious right now?"

"I just-"

"Need to decide what you want. I'm over hoping I'll be a priority to you on any given day."

She sighed, "okay."

"Okay?"

"I said okay, didn't I?"

"Okay. I'll cook you dinner and we'll talk," he laid back down, her in his arms. "Goodnight, beautiful Charly."


	21. Chapter 21

A/N: Hope you guys have been enjoying this one! I haven't heard too much from you all for a while but the traffic is still going strong, so I hope that means you're out there and liking where it's going. I have plans for a while with it, especially after this chapter, so let me know what you guys want to see. I know, I'm the worst at juggling stories, but Flustered and Another go have had complete arcs, so I'm okay with leaving them alone for a little while. It's too difficult to balance this and Sesha stuff, so maybe I'll be back there after this is over, but I also have a Dean/Renee AU in the works for you to look forward to ;)

XXX

He woke up to her in his arms and it took him a moment to remember what had happened last night. A small smile broke out on his face as he took in the sight of her chest gently rising and falling. Tightening his grip around her waist, he pressed his lips to the crook of her neck and she stirred slightly, murmuring. He moved his lips down a little, kissing it until she groggily groaned his name, her eyes fluttering. Smirking, he moved again to that most sensitive spot and pressed against it roughly. She gasped and moaned, turning towards him with her eyes wide and her cheeks flushed.

"Good morning," he said with a sly little smile.

"I hate you."

"Tell me that wasn't the best wake up call of your life," he ran his fingertips up between her legs and paused, feeling the slightly damp material. "See?"

She sighed and returned the smirk, "morning."

He leaned in and kissed her deeply, his tongue finding its way to her teeth. She laughed and pushed him back by his chest.

"Are you going to let me wake up first?"

"Gotta make up for lost time, baby."

Charly glanced to the clock, "people might wonder where we are."

"Char, I hate to break it to you, but if you think they haven't figured out where you spent the night, you're insane."

"Everyone's so in each other's business," she grumbled.

"I know, beautiful, he wrapped her in his arms again, "but I don't want to let that stop us from a good thing."

"Yeah…me neither."

"C'mere," he drew her into a kiss, soft but deep, letting his hands wander over her.

This time, she reciprocated the ferocity of his lips. Hers seemed just as eager, just as hungry. She pushed him down on the bed, straddling his hips and running her hands through his hair. His stomach felt like it might fall out of his body as she slowly started to move her hips against him. Unwilling to totally give up the upper hand, he moved his palms up her body to her chest to the sound of little moans. She pulled away as he started to pinch lightly.

"Hey!"

"You love it."

"I didn't say I didn't love it. I just think **somebody's** trying to escalate things quickly."

"Really, Miss soaked-through?" he taunted with a slow squeeze and she blushed heavily, "I'm not the only one who's ready to go."

"But you are ready, aren't you?" her eyes flickered deviously, pushing against his lower body until he could feel it throbbing.

He didn't respond. Instead, he just pulled his t-shirt over her head. Smirking, she returned the favor with his boxers and her own underwear, discarding them to the side. When she returned to her position, resting against him, Seth's mind was going a million miles a minute, just trying to take it all in.

"Fuck. I missed that view," he leaned his head back between his hands, watching her smile down at him.

"Yeah?"

She started grinding against him slowly, teasing him, knowing how badly he wanted it. The throbbing was unbearable.

"Oh, fuck that," he growled, flipping her onto her back to a gasp and giggle. He pushed into her and let out a groan himself. "You feel so good," he managed to stop himself from babbling, pouring out his feelings in one breath.

Moaning, she wrapped her legs around him. Her teeth caught his lower lip as she pushed against him to quicken the pace. Not to be out-done, he trailed kisses down her neck and settled his lips on one of her nipples. He circled his tongue around her until she was a moaning mess and bit down lightly.

"Seth!" she cried out to a smirk across his face.

"I love that sound."

"Then you better make me make it," she bit her lip.

"That a challenge, Caruso?"

She raised her eyebrows, "it's cute when you try so hard."

"Oh? Is that right?"

"That's right."

"Get on top."

"Why?" she bit her lip lightly.

"Because if I'm going to make you scream I wanna be able to enjoy the view."

Smugly, she straddled him again and started moving back and forth. He gritted his teeth and pushed in harder until she was unable to hold back the moans. Matching them, he didn't care how loud they were. It was his house after all. Before long, she was bouncing up and down, running her hands through her hair and down her chest. He smirked, his hands meeting hers and rolling her in between his fingers.

"Oh Seth…"

"That's right, baby. C'mon," he growled. She gave him a loud, long moan in response to him pounding into her. He felt the rumbling inside of him, and tried not to think about it. "C'mon!"

"Ah!" she tipped her head back, her eyes screwed shut tightly.

Just at that moment, the door swung open, the New Day busted in, Sami, Cesaro and Noam behind them, and the girls hanging back in the hallway.

"Eyyyyy!" Their friends cheered and laughed.

"Oh my god!" Charly gasped, crashing into Seth and trying to cover herself in the sheets. It pushed him in further and he felt himself exploding out. _Goddammit_.

"GET OUT OF HERE!" Seth shouted, throwing a pillow at Big E who dodged it, laughing hysterically. He grumbled, pushed Charly off, careful to keep her covered, and got up to chase them out.

"Whoooa man!" Xavier laughed.

"Go!" he pushed them out, not paying much mind to it. It wasn't like he didn't change in front of these guys every day.

"You two have fun!" Cesaro teased, as Seth pushed him out the door.

"Now!"

He caught Noam smirking at him, looking him up and down and then to Charly's mortified face before winking at her. Seth slammed the door, locking it this time, and turned back to her.

"Sorry," he rubbed the back of his neck, "that's been known to happen sometimes."

"I uh…it's okay," she held the sheet to her chest tightly.

He sighed, looking down, he was dripping a bit down his leg. "Did I make a mess over there?"

"Don't think so," she looked around, "mostly just on me."

Seth sat on the edge of the bed, hanging his head. "Sorry," he said again.

"Don't be," she shook her head, "you got surprised."

"They didn't mean to ruin this," he said sheepishly, "they were just being funny. Can't say I've never done it to anyone,"

She chuckled, sitting up to meet him, a hand on his shoulder, "it's not ruined." She kissed his skin lightly. "I had fun."

"Yeah? Me too." He smiled, for all Charly was, confusing and wary, when he needed it most she was an angel. "Let's get you cleaned up."

XXX

The others made their way out throughout the day. Noam, Neville and Sami leaving first, just after Seth and Charly had returned downstairs for breakfast. Seth had stolen two plates of eggs from Xavier and Cesaro as payment for interrupting their heated morning session, and all was forgiven. Charly kept her head down about it, though, significantly less amused by the whole ordeal. The rest trickled out, few by few, until just Sasha, Roman, and Bayley were the only ones left. Roman herded the two out, sending a smile back towards Seth with an understanding nod. Seth rolled his eyes, but was glad to get back alone with Charly.

They spend the day stretched out on his couch, her head on his chest, reading as he played Arkham City on his Playstation. He kissed the top of her forehead and didn't say anything about how much his arm had fallen asleep. It was peaceful. It was perfect.

"So what're you thinking for dinner?" she asked cautiously. They both knew dinner meant that uncomfortable conversation.

"We can go out if you want,"

"I don't really wanna-"

"Right. Umm, I don't really keep a lot in the house, but," he paused the game and led her over to the kitchen. The party had cleared him out, the fridge was largely empty. "Uhh…"

She opened the pantry and laughed, pulling a blue box of mac n cheese from it with a smile. "Star wars shapes?"

"Shapes taste better, it's scientifically proven."

"Cheat on your diet?"

"Just this once," he smiled at her, getting a pot of water to boil. "There's still some beer in here too."

"Classy," she laughed, collecting the ingredients.

He opened them each a bottle and held back while she cooked. Watching her, he smiled to himself. All of her little imperfections, the way she wrinkled her nose when she undercooked the pasta, how she'd added a forkful of butter and then shrugged, adding another, it made his stomach flutter. He knew that feeling, knew how dangerous it was, but he'd be lying if he said he hadn't missed it terribly.

Back on the couch with their mac n cheese and beer, he looked over at her nervously.

"So uh, I guess we should talk."

"Yeah, I guess so," she met his gaze and held it for a moment. "Oh am I supposed to go first?"

"You don't have to."

"Do you want to go first? I mean, if you have something to say…"

"Yeah I've got something to say," he said almost defiantly. She nodded to him to go on, without resistance, and he sighed. "You really wanted to see the cop tonight?"

Charly looked away, biting her lip. "His name is Jackson."

"Whatever."

"No, not whatever. He's a person, Seth, not some roadblock for you to overcome. And I feel bad about canceling on him to be with some other guy."

"Some other guy?"

"Seth,"

"No, is that what I am to you?" he sat up, his temper fuming. "Some other guy?"

"Seth! I'm saying it's hurtful, not that you don't mean anything."

"So break it off already! You're not doing anyone any favors by jugging both of us and whoever else. Anyone but you."

"Now you're getting accusatory."

"I'm not getting accusatory! I just don't get it, Char, you don't even like him, right?"

She looked away again.

"Really?"

"He's…good."

Seth scoffed, "like in bed?"

"No, just, in general. He's good. He's a good guy."

"And I'm not."

"I didn't say that," she shook her head.

"You didn't have to," he spat. He wasn't sure when he'd gotten so angry, maybe it'd be boiling underneath since the night before when he realized a steamy shower together wouldn't fix it all.

"He's…"

"What? He's what, Charly? Let me guess, he's everything I'm not."

"Seth I am not…"

"Just admit it Char! He's a good guy, right? No skeletons in his closet, no torrid affairs, no dick pics floating around the internet. You bring him home to your parents and they'll love him."

"Okay, yes. They would, okay? And yes, it is hard to explain away…that."

"You're always so concerned with what other people think."

"And you're not? It doesn't bother you that all of your friends think you slept with our boss?"

"I did sleep with our boss. I own it."

"You're not owning shit, Seth."

"That's to protect her- look," he sighed, "I didn't mean for this to turn into some sort of battle."

"Yeah," she looked down at her bowl, "me neither."

"I wanna be enough for you, Char," he said softly as her eyes flickered up to his. "I don't wanna compete for your attention like that, I don't wanna worry about measuring up to someone else."

She didn't say anything for a moment, and he let it hang there, feeling like he'd said his piece.

"There's no competition," she eventually said, barely above a whisper.

"What?"

"He doesn't even come close to you. No one does."

He felt his heart plummet into his stomach.

"If that's how you feel…"

"I'm a coward okay?" she raised her voice, she never did that. Tears were welling up in her eyes, "I'm afraid. I'm afraid of this, of getting it wrong. I'm afraid of everything everyone will think and everything everyone will say. Jackson…he's, well, safe, he's fine."

"You really wanna settle? For the rest of you life? Just to avoid the risk?"

"I don't jump off of ladders for a living, I'm not really a risk taker,"

"And I'm a risk."

"Seth, you know what you are, don't put that on me."

"Okay, okay, fine! Yes. I am what I am. I cheated on my fiancé, I slept with a married woman, fine. That's what I am. That's all you or anyone else is ever able to see."

"That's **not** all I see, why would I be here in the first place if I did? But I can't just ignore it," she shook her head, blinking away tears, "I want this, Seth, but I don't wanna be wrong about it. I don't want to have to face everyone who told me better after you leave."

"I'm not going to leave!" his temper was boiling. "Don't you trust me at all?"

"I want to! But your history doesn't exactly make it easy."

"I know I know," he placed his bowl down on the table roughly and ran his hand through his hair. "God, I know. Char, I can't change the decisions I've already made. All I can do is try to show you it'll be different. I don't want to fight, I don't want to yell, baby,"

"What do you want?"

"To be the only one you're coming home to, the only one who gets to hold you, I wanna be the worst kept secret in WWE, meet these friends who keep setting you up with loser guys,"

She chuckled and moved her hair behind her ear, "and I wanna believe I can trust you to do all that."

He gulped, "If I can be more honest, can you be more brave?"

Charly looked at him for a moment, considering it with a sigh. "Yeah, I can do that."

A grin broke out on Seth's face. "C'mere,"

She crawled to him, her arms around his neck as he pulled her into a long, slow kiss.

"I could do this for days," she whispered, her lips very close to his.

"Challenge accepted," he smirked, flipping her over to her back and kissing her deeper. Her fingertips played with the ends of his hair and she leaned her head back in bliss.


	22. Chapter 22

"Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome my guest at this time, Noam Dar," she spoke into the microphone that Monday night. Seth had found his way to the hallway where she was set to talk to him. He stood far enough away to cover his tracks, but his scowl told another story.

"Ah, the lovely Charly Caruso," Noam said with a flirtatious smirk, " 'Ow are you tonight, love?"

"I'm well, now let's talk about your fierce rivalry with TJ Perkins-"

"Fierce? Ah no, I don' think so, I've been in some 'eated rivalries in my time. Dis ain't one of them."

"So what do you say to TJ's accusations that you attacked him before the Royal Rumble pay per view?"

"No evidence there," he smiled at her deviously. "If that's all darlin',"

"Uh, yeah, thank you, Noam."

"Cut!" the producer called and the camera crew hurried away for their next assignment.

Noam smirked at her again, "sorry I can't give ya more than that, love, but I got a job to keep."

"It's fine," she looked over her shoulder, Seth was talking to the New Day boys, but watching them with a side eye.

He followed her eye and laughed, "aw is little Sethie jealous?"

She sighed, tilting her head, "don't be a jerk."

"Not my fault he's so easily…excitable."

"Okay, what's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh I think ya know, love,"

She rolled her eyes, "look, I'm sorry things didn't work out between us, but you knew exactly where you stood and you were just fine with it."

"Ah I was more than happy to win ya over in the bedroom."

Charly blushed and suddenly felt a firm hand on the small of her back.

"How's it going, Noam?" Seth said with a smug smile, "having a nice little chat?"

"We were just talkin' 'bout you actually."

"Is that right?"

"Whatsamatter, can't handle anyone else talkin' to your beautiful Charly?"

"Anyone else would be fine."

"You gonna let him tell ya who to talk to?" he asked her.

"That's not what he said," she sighed.

"Yeah man, don't be a sore loser." He smirked to throw Noam's line back at him.

"Loser? Seth, mate, I was there the other night. Think we both know who woulda won the prize if she'd gotten the full experience."

"My girlfriend isn't a prize, Noam."

"girlfrien'?"

"girlfriend?" Charly asked, surprised.

Seth caught her eye, "yeah. Girlfriend."

"I think your _girlfriend's_ missin' out. An' I think she knows it."

"Enough. You're out of line, Noam," Seth gritted his teeth, towering over the smaller man.

"Now, now, Seth, don' get yourself too excited," he winked at Charly again, "save a little for ya _girlfriend_."

Seth clenched his fist, stepping towards Noam, but Charly caught his arm.

"Seth! Stop." She met his gaze and said softly, "I chose you."

Noam scoffed, "I'll leave ya two love birds to it."

Seth shook his head watching him walk away.

"Don't you have a match?" she asked.

"Yeah, but, I'll need my arm."

"Oh," she let go. "So uh, girlfriend?"

"Girlfriend." He nodded and walked off towards the locker room.

She couldn't help but smile after him.

"Excuse us, Charly?" Xavier's voice came from behind her. The three of them looked at her sheepishly. "Uh you wanna take this Kof?

"Yeah alright. We, are sorry."

"Sorry?"

"About busting in on you and Seth," Big E said solemnly.

"We thought it was just some hookup," Xavier admitted, "we didn't know he was so in love with you."

"In love? He's not-"

Xavier gave her a knowing look, "we've all known Seth for a long time. You're no conquest, Charly. And if we interrupted something special that morning, we apologize."

"Thanks guys," she smiled at them. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.

A little while later, she waited outside guerilla for Seth to get into position before his match. She hopped onto a production crate and crossed her legs, watching Sasha and Liv Morgan's match. Summer and Emma were watching from the spot furthest down the hall and whispering to each other. It made Charly nervous to see that, Summer had just gotten cleared and Emma had been pushing back her return for weeks. But she pretended not to see them, it was all drummed up anyway, she knew that. Most people didn't hate each other as much as they pretended to.

Seth caught her eye as he entered the hallway, taping up his wrist. He smiled slyly and stood very close to her.

"Waiting for me?" he whispered, looking down at her.

"Waiting for Sasha. I have an interview with her."

"So you're waiting for me."

"Keep telling yourself that, Rollins."

"Why we still playing these games, Char?"

"Because you love them, Seth."

"That's true," he smirked. From the speakers, they heard the bell ring and Seth looked up. "I gotta run. Wish me luck?"

His eyes flickered to hers again as he spoke ever so softly.

"Good luck."

"Oh come on now."

She rolled her eyes, but reached up and kiss him quickly on the lips. He grinned and walked off towards the curtain. Triple H and the rest of the suits hadn't noticed him, but Emma and Summer were looking her way, Summer's mouth open in half a laugh. Charly sighed and tried to put it out of her mind as Sasha came through the curtain.

"Nia is gonna find out," Sasha was saying towards the end of her interview, "who the boss is around here."

"Oh is she now?" Emma waltzed into the frame with Summer, who draped her arm around Sasha.

"Cause we think you don't look much like a boss to us right now," Summer snickered before grabbing her by her hair and slamming her down to the ground.

"Whoa!" Charly backed up, unable to do much but watch as the two stomped on Sasha.

They laughed and smirked at her as the camera crew cut. Emma turned to leave and Summer sent another knowing scoff at Charly.

"Give Seth our love," she said with a laugh as the two of them giggled off.

Charly bent down to help Sasha up, "are you okay?"

"Yeah," Sasha rubbed the back of her neck, grimacing.

"I'm sorry, I can't-"

"No, no, I know. I can take it," she shook her head, "what the hell was that about though?"

Charly pulled her up to her feet, "uh, I think we're out."

"You and Seth?" she managed to smile though she was clearly hurting. "Woooow."

"Looks like it," she sighed, "so it begins."

Once it got out, it traveled fast as light. Seth pretended not to notice, but she knew he was getting glances and smirks in the locker room. He was careful at work, a kiss or two, a wink, but never anything more. Maybe he was trying to show her he understood where she stood, that he respected that she didn't want to be defined by his reputation. But even so, it wasn't easy back there. The looks alone were plenty. No one even needed to say a thing because it was understood: everyone knew.

Charly was getting her makeup done backstage a couple weeks later, and a few of the girls were standing around Lana across from her, talking and laughing. As she tussled her hair, Lana stood up from the chair, still chatting with Alicia about something. She smiled at Charly as they walked by.

"Hey Charly, how're you?"

"Oh pretty good, but I've got Chris and Kevin later so," she chuckled.

"Ha, good luck," Lana said with a laugh, they all knew those two could be. "Hey are you coming to the party for Brie and Daniel Wrestlemania week?"

"Uh, yeah,maybe," she tried to keep still as the makeup artist lined her lash line, "Renee mentioned it, I just don't know them very well."

"I'm sure they would love for you to be there, especially since-"

"Since what? Sorry," she un-wrinkled her brow sheepishly and the makeup artist started to rub the brow-filler smudge off.

"Well, just because, uh," Lana stammered. She had a nasty streak out in front of the cameras, but was always worried about crossing someone behind that curtain.

"Oh come on," Alicia rolled her eyes, "Daniel and Seth are good friends, and you're with Seth, aren't you?" she almost demanded.

Charly paused for a moment, grateful that it was time for her lipstick. When she was done, she looked up at the two.

"Yeah," she said plainly, "I'm with Seth."

"So you should come then, it'll be fun. Wednesday night."

XXX

Later, she brought it up to him as they sat at a table in the hotel bar. His thumb lightly brushed the back of her hand, resting against the stem of her wine glass.

"Lana said you'd be going," she tried to sound nonchalant.

"I probably will…" he smiled at her from the side of his mouth, "are you waiting for an invitation?"

"No," she shook her head, "Renee already invited me."

"But you want an invitation from me?"

"It's not all about you, Seth," she flipped her hair over her shoulder. "But I mean, you could've mentioned it."

He smirked, enjoying the tease, "so, what? You want me to take you to my friend's baby celebration? As my girlfriend? Show you off a little?" His eyes flickered deviously and she grumbled.

"No, none of those things. Whatever, I'm over this," she moved to walk away, but he caught her arm gently.

"Char," he said softly, pulling her back down. "I don't know how you wanna handle all of this," he rubbed the bare skin of her arm, "but I'll take you to the party if you tell me that's what you want."

She looked down sheepishly.

"Do you want me to?" he whispered. Charly's eyes flickered up to his and she nodded wordlessly. He grinned, " then that's what I'll do."

"Okay."

"Okay," he smiled at her, half-amused. "Hey speaking of Wrestlemania week, can I uh, stay with you?"

"In my house?"

"In your bed," he smirked, "blow off some steam before my big match?"

"I thought you'd want to focus."

He shrugged, "waking up to a beautiful woman next to you is actually incredibly helpful for getting in the zone."

"Is that so?"

"Only if she's naked," he winked with a sip of his drink. "Nah, really, I want to share this with you. All of it."

"All of it?"

"You're my date to Hall of Fame, aren't you?"

Charly laughed, "I have to work,"

"Only until it starts," he insisted, "c'mon, sit with me, let me drool over how beautiful you look,"

"Let you show me off a little?" she tossed back.

"If your intention was to keep this a secret, you might want to quit kissing me before my matches."

She rolled her eyes, "fair."

"So yes?"

"Okay, if that's what you want."

"It is." He smirked and kissed her cheek.

"Hey, love birds," Xavier called as he and Big E sat down at the table with them, "what're we talking about?"

"Uh how were leaving," Seth crossed his arms.

"Stop," Charly laughed, "don't be rude. How're you guys?"

"Stoked for Mania, did you see what happened today?"

"You and Enzo and Cass? It'll be great."

"What're you on?" Xavier asked, waving over Roman and Kofi with their drinks.

"Just the usual, chasing down you boys," Charly, "but maybe I'll get the new champ for an interview," under the table, she squeezed Seth's knee with a sly smile and his eyes locked on her, glimmering slightly.

He stood up abruptly, "time to go,"

"What?" she laughed.

"You fluffed his ego, now he needs it," Roman.

"And if you morons bust in on us this time, I will personal kick your ass all the way to Orlando and back." He pushed in his chair and glanced back towards her, "you coming?"

XXX

"I don't know about this, Sash," Charly called from the fancy dressing room

"Just show me," she called back.

"I think it's too much."

"I'll tell you if it's too much,"

"No you won't, you'll think it's great."

"Well I'm all you've got soooo,"

"Okay, okay," she pushed the door open and smoothed out the silk fabric as she stood in front of the mirror. The gown draped over her body, clinging to her chest in a v neckline. It hit low, showing off the top of her cleavage. "Too much?"

Sasha looked her up and down from the mirror at the other side of the room. "Yeah, probably."

Charly sighed, pulling the fabric.

"But,"

"There's a but?"

"But you look awesome," Sasha laughed, "so do you want everyone to know it?"

She swung the skirt back and forth a bit, trying to see how it moved. A flash of her leg from the mid-thigh slit made her lips purse.

"That'll make it easier to walk," Sasha teased. "Okay, seriously, you won't be the most revealing. But it's pretty sexy, so if you're not comfortable, don't do it."

Charly looked herself over again, she could admit it accentuated every curve of her body.

"buuuuuut,"

"Another but?" Charly rolled her eyes.

"Seth's face."

A small smile came across her mouth, "Seth's face." She smoothed out the navy fabric again, thinking about his gaping mouth, his eyes following the neckline and his throat gulping. "Did I tell you he wanted to take me?"

"Like as his date?"

"Mhmm."

"Wow he's really getting serious huh?"

"He seems to want everyone to know he's with me."

"Isn't what you said you wanted?"

"I don't want him to act ashamed of me, no." Charly sighed, pushing her hair back, "I just wasn't prepared for all of it. All of the eyes."

"Well, what's the alternative?"

"There isn't one," Charly shook her head, "not one that involves being with Seth. Part of me wants to just hide away and part of me wants to say screw it, give them something to talk about."

"I mean, that dress'll do it," Sasha said with a laugh.

"It will."

"You can't let what other people think control your happiness."

"I know, I just… I knew people would start treating me differently. I just hoped maybe they wouldn't." She sighed, "Screw it right?"

"Right."

"Let's do it," Charly said defiantly, storming back into the dressing room."

"Tell Seth to send me a thank you gift basket!" Sasha shouted after her.


	23. Chapter 23

"You almost ready?" Seth called, tapping on the bathroom door.

"It's open," she called back, "and yes."

He leaned up against the doorway, watching her carefully as she brushed her setting powder on.

"Just a few minutes," she promised.

"No rush," he smirked, his eyes grazing over the back of her tight red shorts, all the way down her legs and to her block-heeled sandals. "I'll wait here."

She rolled her eyes but smiled smugly. Moving to her lipstick, she leaned over the sink to apply it in the mirror.

"Oh c'mon!" he laughed, coming up behind her, his hands on her hips. "Tease."

"Seeeeth," she laughed as he pressed a kiss to the crook of her neck, "we'll be late."

"They won't miss us," he nipped at her skin lightly and she pushed back against his body. "That's more like it."

His hands found the buttons of her shorts and hers reached up behind her to hold on to his neck.

"Quickly," she told him, his lips pressed to her cheek.

In an instant, her shorts were around her ankles along with her underwear and he pushed her onto her elbows on the counter. She heard his belt buckle hit the floor and met his eye in the mirror. He smirked.

"You ever done it in this bathroom before?"

"Uhh…"

"Right. Never mind." He ran his tongue over his top lip as he pushed in gently.

His pace picked up quickly, not wasting any time. Truth be told, they could show up half-way through this thing and no one would care, but that wouldn't be any fun. He slid his hands up to her chest, holding her as he thrust relentlessly.

"No bra?" he teased.

"Oh shut up," she pushed back against him roughly and he smirked, pinching her and trailing her skin with his scraggly beard.

She moaned into it, her arms shaking and finding herself wanting to turn around and feel the tightness of his muscles. But he had her pinned to the counter, not leaving any wiggle room. Either way, he seemed to be incredibly happy with pounding into her deeply, his groans echoing around the room.

"Se-eth…" she stammered, causing him to hit it hard with a grunt. She yelped out again, louder this time.

"That's right-" he groaned, "that's right, beautiful Charly. Fuck!"

Charly sighed blissfully, leaning against his chest as he pulled out. She smiled at him and kissed his cheek, and he tried his hardest to hide his disappointment. Nuzzling against his cheek, she made him laugh.

"Think you'll have to redo that lipstick, Char."

XXX

The baby celebration party was in one of Charly's old stomping grounds, a trendy little bar near one of the college campuses. It was bustling by the time they got there, full of Brie and Daniel's friends from the business.

"You made it!" Renee squealed, running up to them in her high heels and giving Charly a hug.

"Wouldn't miss it," Charly smiled as the guests of honor came up to them.

"Seth Freakin' Rollins as I live and breathe," Daniel said as he shook Seth's hand and gave him a hug. "How're you man?"

"I am good but I don't think I'm as good as you," he gave Brie a kiss on the cheek, "look at you!"

"Look at me!" Brie laughed with a shrug.

"Uh, this is my uh," he swallowed, putting a hand on her lower back, "girlfriend-"

"Oh, we know who she is," Daniel smiled reassuringly at her, "Charly Caruso, we're all really impressed with your work."

"Thank you, it's been an adventure."

"You must be pretty excited for your first WrestleMania,"

"I feel like I have no idea what I'm getting myself into,"

"That's okay, you'll have a great time, promise." Brie sipped on her sparkling cider, "oh by the way, they're filming for Total Divas ove there,"

"Oh, really?" Charly hated the cameras being around all the time.

"Stay away from drama and they won't even see you," Renee told her, "that's why Dean's sulking in a corner."

"Dean's here?" Seth asked.

"Yeah," Renee smirked at him, "should I tell him you were looking for him?"

"No. You want a drink, Char?"

"Sure, thanks," she glanced at Renee as he grumbled off towards the bar and Brie and Daniel went to make more rounds.

"Sorry," Renee tilted her head, "Did I upset him?"

"He'll get over it." Charly glanced around and then quickly turned back towards Renee. "Oh god."

"What?"

"Don't look, but there's a guy at the pool tables, I was uh...with him for a while."

"Wow what are the chances of that?"

"Pretty high actually, this is our old bar."

"Aw jeez." Renee glanced over, "Green t-shirt?"

"Yeah,"

"Well, he's coming over here."

"What?" Charly's eyes widened and Renee nodded behind her.

"Hi," he smiled his dopey grin at her, "sorry, am I interrupting?"

"No, no, that's okay. Hi. Renee, this is Mark. He used to coach my flag football team. Mark, this is my friend Renee, we work together."

"Right, the WWE," he nodded, "uh I saw WrestleMania was this weekend, I was gonna try to go and see what you do but, ticket prices…"

"They're steep, I know."

"It's good to see you though, how's work and…and things?"

"They're good. Are you still coaching the girls?"

"Yeah but the season's been rough. They miss you. No one knows how to do a fake out like you."

"Aw, well, there's just no way with my schedule."

"No, yeah I know, I can't imagine what your life's like these days."

"It's…pretty crazy yeah."

"How's it going over here?" Seth's voice was in her ear suddenly, two bottles in his hands.

"Hey! Seth this is my coach, Mark. Mark this is my uh…boyfriend," she took one of the beers from him, "thank you."

"Seth Rollins," he held his hand out, he knew exactly who was standing in front of him. "Former WWE Champion,"

"Seth," she hissed and he side glanced at her.

"Good to meet you," Mark took his hand. "Mark Munder, uh, psych teacher."

"Psych teacher?"

"Yeah, high school AP and honors,"

"Ha ha ha, I'll admit I was never much of a scholar."

"Yeah well," he shrugged, "I coach the football team too, that's my real passion."

"Must be great, living the dream."

Mark smiled politely, "I love it."

"Well that's all that matters," he said with a smirk, "we should probably get back to the party, Char,"

"Good seeing you, Mark,"

"Yeah, text me next time you're in town for more than five seconds."

"I will," she smiled at him and followed Seth back to an empty booth by the others. He avoided her gaze for a minute, sipping on his drink and looking down. Eventually, he couldn't help but look at her from the side of his eye. He sighed.

"I know, I know, I'm sorry."

"Is there a problem?"

"No, there's no problem. I just…wanted him to know I had what he lost."

"Why?"

"Because I-" he sighed, "I've always got something to prove, you know that."

"I do."

"It was stupid, I'm sorry."

"Fine, order me tater tots."

"Deal."

XXX

Friday night at Hall of Fame, Charly rolled her eyes at Seth. He sat in her living room, reading in a pair of sweatpants as she sat on a bar stool being primped. His call was 7:15pm, hers was 5. He'd throw on his suit, maybe decide between two different ties, slick his hair back into a low bun, and head out the door. She had another two hours of this, at least.

"I got us seats together, good ones, too," he said as he passed by her to get a snack from the kitchen. "Pulled some strings, used my status," he winked at her.

"Who'd you flirt with?"

"Stephanie's assistant," he said sheepishly. "But it worked!"

"good, I'm looking forward to it," she closed her eyes so that the makeup artist could apply her eye shadow. She heard him crunching on carrot sticks on her right, and when she opened her eyes he was watching her, a small smile on his face. "What?"

"Oh, nothing," he shrugged, "you're perfection,"

"I have one eye made up,"

"And you are still perfection."

Later, after her hair and makeup artist had finished, Charly laid the navy blue gown out on her bed. She could hear Seth in the shower, he was humming off-key. Taking a deep breath, she stepped into it, positioning herself into the cups and adjusting the cleavage. She stepped into her heels, alligator patterned pumps, and draped the sparkly jeweled necklace on. Tussling her hair, she took a look in the full-length mirror, and bit her lip at the over-confident ensemble her and Sasha had put together. It was almost definitely, too much, but hey, if she was going to show up with the top guy in the company, she might as well show up.

The water stopped and Charly adjusted the straps of her dress, making sure everything was in place. There was only really one person she cared about seeing her in it.

"Hey Char, do you-" he came out from the bathroom, hair dripping, a towel wrapped around his waist. He stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes following the curve of her body and training on her bare back. His mouth fell open. "Holy-" he mumbled.

"What was that?"

"I **said** , holy shit."

"No before that."

"What?" he managed to pull his gaze from her body to look at her, perplexed.

"Hey Char do you..."

"I have no fucking idea and I don't care."

"Well in that case," she laughed, "you mind?" she nodded towards the undone back zipper.

He dropped the towel to the floor and walked over to her, his hands gently finding her skin. Pulling up her zipper he met her eye in the mirror and she smiled back smugly.

"Thank you," she turned and kissed him lightly, careful not to smudge her lipstick. Before she could help herself, her eyes fell down to his lower body and now it was his turn to smirk.

"Don't get too excited, baby, you've got a job to do."

"You're the one who wanted to drool over me," she laughed collecting her clutch from the bed.

He watched her carefully, not bothering to dress. "And I will, trust me, I will."

"I'll see you there?"

"I'll be the one in the suit and the sudden inability to speak," he smiled as she kissed him goodbye and caught her arm, "Careful, a dress like that might make a man fall in love with you."

"I-" she stammered, unsure what he was saying or how to react, "I'll have to keep Noam at bay then."

"Get outta here,"

"See you,"

XXX

She was exhausted by the time Seth was set to arrive at Hall of Fame. It'd been hours of interviews and filling time in the Hall of Fame preshow. The worst part was she wasn't even convinced anyone was watching it, but still, she had to put on a smile for the next 45 minutes before she could relax.

"Charly, Charly, beautiful Charly," his voice came behind her, she smiled, looking up and pretending for the cameras that she hadn't woken up with him that morning. "How are you today?" his eyes glimmered down at her as they watched her breath catch.

She was supposed to be the one who blew his mind, but somehow, he'd one-uped her. He knew it too. His smug little smile made his eyes light up as she took in the sight of his tailored suit stretching over his pecs.

"uh, I'm well, Seth, how about you?" she recovered quickly, though her eyes followed the collar of his shirt, he'd forgone the tie in an act of rebellion to the McMahons.

"I'm fantastic, it's good seeing everyone all dressed up isn't it?" he grinned down at her. "And look at us, matching," he tugged on the lapels of his navy suit, "I swear we didn't plan this, guys."

Charly giggled, she couldn't help herself, "looking like prom night, casual."

He grinned again, dropping his eyes quickly and then returning to her gaze.

"What're you looking forward to tonight, Seth?"

He paused, an eyebrow raised, "oh you know, it's gotta be Kurt Angle, right?"

"Well enjoy,"

"Thank you, Charly," he grinned and moved along as she greeted her next interview in Brie and Daniel.

Finally, she got to sit down as the show began. He was sitting with an empty seat to his right, a few rows back from the stage. They were pretty good seats, which probably meant they wanted him on camera at some point. She slunk into the seat next to him, and although there were a couple glances their way, people seemed to leave it be for the moment. He leaned over during Vince's opening speech and whispered in her ear.

"You gonna let me hold your hand?"

"Not a chance," she whispered back with a laugh.

He sighed and went back to watching the show, but every now and then his glance would veer off to her. She could feel his eyes dancing across her neckline. Not that she wasn't returning the favor, hers following his crisp dark shirt down his arms. Smiling at their slyness, they didn't even need to touch, the heat between them was plenty.

They got in late that night, a little bit tipsy from the champagne and laughing at how Chris and Kevin had a public quarrel at the after party that ended with Chris storming off, tears in his eyes. Charly kicked off her shoes as they got to the bedroom and Seth flopped onto the bed, watching her. She started undoing the bobby pins from her hair, and in the mirror she could see his eyes still following her every move.

"That dress is beautiful, Char," he said smoothly.

She beamed, "thank you,"

"Looks expensive," he slyly smiled.

"I rented it," she unclasped the necklace from behind her back.

"Well then, you'd better take it off," his voice was thickening, "I wouldn't want to rip it."

"Oh yeah?" she turned around and held his eye, challenging him.

He smiled deviously, "take it off. Now."

It was on the floor instantaneously, pooling around her ankles and leaving her in the strapless bodysuit underneath.

"Damn."

"Your turn," she laughed, straddling him on the bed and pulling his jacket off of his shoulders and moving her hand to his shirt buttons.

"Hey," he said softly, his demeanor suddenly changed.

"Hmm?" she barely let up from kissing his neck and he pulled back to look her in the eyes.

"Look, I've been thinking a lot about how maybe I've been a little bit selfish in bed,"

"It's fine," she tried to go back to it, not wanting to have this conversation again.

"No, Char," he pulled away, "it's not. I've been putting all this pressure on you for the sake of my ego and it's wrong. Listen, if you want that big explosive end, then trust me, I'll do everything in my power to get you there. And if you just wanna sit back and enjoy the ride, baby, I'm gonna give you the ride of your life."

"How long have you been rehearsing that?" she teased, looking up at him through her eyelashes.

"About a week."

"Well, c'mere," she leaned in and kissed him softly. Against her lips, she could feel him smiling.


	24. Chapter 24

She stirred in the early morning, the sun was just showing through the curtains of her bedroom. Holding the covers to her bare skin, she was starting to regret the decision to let herself fall asleep right there- undressed after their night together. Charly reached for the other side of the bed, looking for the warmth of his body, and as she padded around the empty space, she eventually came across a post-it left where he was supposed to be. Squinting she brought it close and read it.

 _Char,_

 _Couldn't sleep._

 _Went for a run._

 _PS Twitter knows all about us._

 _Love,_

 _Seth_

Laughing, she put it back and closed her eyes. Typical Seth. He got so manic sometimes, he said he needed to run to make his body move as fast as his mind. She pulled up a blanket instead and held it to her chest, floating back to sleep.

A little while later, she heard the door close gently and him rustling around the room. Slowly, his side of the bed dipped as he crawled under the covers next to her. She murmured as his body came up against her and giggled, reaching back to his scratchy beard.

"Where are your clothes?" she laughed as he pressed himself against her leg and nuzzled her neck.

"They were sweaty," he whispered, rolling his hips until she moaned, "plus this is better."

"Mmm."

"You have fun last night?"

"Mmm," she nodded, giggling.

"Yeah, sounded like it," he smirked.

"Well, maybe," she turned towards him, her fingers tangling in his long hair, "that's because there wasn't any pressure this time."

He looked down, "I know." She kissed his cheek and he smiled lightly, "I just…I wanna make you happy."

"You **do**. " She kissed up and down his face, "you make me happy, you make me feel good,"

"Good?" he challenged, pushing her down into the pillows and kissing her.

"You make me feel incredible," she moaned as his lips crashed into hers. "I love it."

"I love you."

He paused, inhaling sharply as he let it hang there for a moment. Charly bit her lip, meeting his nervous eyes.

"I uh,"

"It's fine," he shook his head, rolling onto his back.

"No, Seth-"

"You don't have to say it, I don't care."

"You don't care? You expect me to believe that?" She looked down at him.

"Well…no. Not really."

"Seth, I-"

"Char. It's okay, if you don't love me, you don't love me."

"I do!"

"You do?"

"Yes."

"Okay…" his brow furrowed, "so…say it."

She inhaled sharply and he cut her off before she even began.

"Why is this so hard for you?"

"I don't… I don't have a good answer for that," she looked down and he moved a piece of hair to behind her ear. She sighed, "I do though…love you."

A smile broke out across his face, "wasn't so hard, now was it?" He pulled her towards him, positioning her body against his and kissing the skin of her shoulder gently.

"What was that about Twitter being onto us?" she asked as she settled in the crook of his arm.

"Oh, well," he reached for her phone and typed in the passcode like it was nothing.

He handed it over to her, a retweet by Bayley featuring the frog and tea emojis. _Anyone else notice how Charly and Seth can't stop staring at each other?_ It was accompanied by four pictures, one of him glancing to the side at her, then at her cleavage, her looking at him, and then finally the two of them looking at each other, grinning.

"Buuusted," she laughed.

"There's a whole bunch like that."

"Oops," she bit her lip, looking at the picture of him staring down at her, a soft smile on his lips.

"Don't get too excited, you had something in your teeth."

"Oh did I?"

"Yeah, obviously," he laughed, getting up from the bed and pulling back on his boxers. "Hey, you want me to take your dress to the cleaners on my way to Axxess?"

"Uh, sure, thank you."

"What? Surprised?"

"No, no just thoughtful that's all."

"I'm very thoughtful, actually," he smirked, gently picking up her dress from where she had left it the night before, "if you hadn't noticed."

"Yeah, yeah," she slipped out of bed and kissed him, his arms wrapping around her.

He looked her up and down once, "are you gonna stay like this? Cause I can cancel…"

"Go!"

XXX

Later that night, Seth stood backstage at NXT Takeover, chatting with some of the talent as they waited for the show to start. Ember caught his eye as she entered the area in her ring gear.

"Seth Rollins, surrounded by women, why am I not surprised?" she teased, walking up to him and Mandy Rose, Liv Morgan, and Aliyah.

"Hey Em," he gave her a hug, "and I was just giving the girls here some big show tips."

"Oh yeah? Like, don't fall over the barricade on your entrance?"

They laughed and Seth sighed heavily, "alright, alright, enough of that. You know I enjoy the company of the lovely ladies of NXT,"

"Oh, we know," Liv laughed, rolling her eyes.

"Okay everyone's just gonna shit on me today, huh?" he grumbled as they nodded and laughed. "Hey! Charly!" he called her over, spotting her walking in with Triple H, who ignored him and went over to Bobby Roode on the other side of the room.

"Hey guys," she said, her heels clicking on the floor. They brought her in for the big shows these days, and the tight black dress she'd donned after he left was doing a number on him.

"You all know my girlfriend, Charly?"

"Girlfriend?" Ember asked, an eyebrow raised.

Liv moved past it quickly, "of course, we love Charly!"

"Yeah, we miss ya, girl," Aliyah agreed.

"Well we get to hang out a bit today, especially because I actually need to borrow the two of you," she said, pointing to Liv and Aliyah, who had a taped match before Takeover started. "I'll see you guys later," her eyes flickered up to Seth and she gave him a sweet smile.

"Bye, Char."

They watched the three walk away and once they were safely out of earshot, Ember turned to him, her arms crossed.

"What?" he sighed.

"Girlfriend?"

"You don't approve? She doesn't meet your standards?"

"Oh, no, of course not, she's way too good for you, actually."

"Gee, thanks Em."

"The hell are you hanging out in NXT, batting your eyelashes at the fresh talent for if you're calling her girlfriend?"

"We were just talking, and I do not bat my eyelashes."

"Uh yeah, yeah you do. C'mon Seth, we all know you're a flirt. You love girls blushing over you, you love being Seth freaking Rollins."

"Yeah, so what?"

"And Charly's just…chill with that? You flirting with other girls?"

"I haven't heard her complain," he said defensively, "look, Charly's a smart girl, she knows exactly what she's gotten herself into here."

"That's really how you wanna go about this relationship?"

"I'm not gonna try to be someone I'm not, Ember. I've done that, it never works. Charly loves me for me,"

"Okay just know it might come around."

"I'll be fine, thanks."

"Fine. She's still too good for you."

"Yeah," he laughed, "don't I know it."

XXX

WrestleMania. WrestleMania meant everything. WrestleMania **was** everything. His music hit and he felt like he was floating as he made his way down to the ring. Everything was blurry, nothing real. He questioned multiple times if it was a dream, but no, this was happening, this was his life. Despite walking out of WrestleMania 31 as the WWE Champion, he wasn't really in that match. It wasn't really _his_ WrestleMania. But this, this could be.

Finn came out after him, the Demon face paint and all. He gave Seth a sly little smile, trying not to slip out of the zone. Kevin got the last spot as the champion, but it was written on his face, he wasn't getting out of this with that belt. Chris Jericho was preoccupied with Roman, who had given him a beating earlier in the show. It was just the three of them, and it would come down to who wanted it more. Seth intended that to be him.

It took everything he had in him. Kevin got a Powerbomb on him early that sent a wave of pain through his body. Finn was doing his whole "unleash the demon" thing, which basically amounted to him going full force, shooting first and asking questions later. If Seth had any delusions about the two of them teaming up on Kevin, that was out the window now. There were no friends in this ring. But after what felt like days of fighting, and Finn kicking out of the Pedigree and reversing one of his big kicks, he found himself climbing up to that top rope. The other two had battled it out, and Finn got a near fall, just barely a near fall, that left them both exhausted right in the middle of the ring. Seth took his opportunity. He turned his back towards them and looked out to the crowd for a moment, damn this thing was high. A deep breath and he bent his knees, Pheonix Splashing onto both of his competitors. That was a nasty move, it hurt him nearly as much sometimes, but on instinct alone, he pinned Kevin's shoulders. He felt the ref's hand hitting the mat. One…two…three…

Just like that, it was over. Kevin rolled away and Finn got to his feet, stumbling from the splash. The ref handed him the belt as his theme song started to play, he felt his hand raised in the air and finally remembered to exhale. The jumbotron showed fireworks going off outside the arena and he breathed heavy, he'd forgotten how this felt, holding up the title as confetti fell. His mind was fuzzy, floating on a high he hadn't quite felt in a very long time. He held out his hand to Finn, Kevin was long gone, and ducked out of the ring, walking backward up it and looking out to the cheering crowd.

"Seth?"

His head snapped towards Charly's voice, terrified for a moment that this was a dream and she was waking him up because he'd slept through his alarm. He wasn't, and she wasn't, she was here to interview him on his way out, get the rawest emotion possible. Dressed in strappy high heels and a slinky bright blue dress. She was trying hard not to show her excitement but he could see it dancing in her eyes, and all he wanted was to grab and kiss her right there. He thought better of it as she got close to him to ask her question.

"You just won your second world title at WrestleMania. Is it better the second time?"

"So much better," he breathed, his heart pounding away, "I finally feel like I'm the champion I was supposed to be. That eight-year-old kid playing wrestling-" he caught his breath, "he's damn proud tonight."

"Congratulations, a big win tonight, and well deserved."

"Thank you Charly," his eyes flickered down to her, full of desire. The words were out of his mouth before he thought about them. "I'll see you tonight,"

Her eyes narrowed and he leaned into the character, smirking and cocking his head as he continued his way up the ramp. He gave her a look to say _you know they knew._ She bit her lip and sighed, but a smile was creeping onto her face. Everyone would know she was going home with the WWE Universal Champion, and maybe, just maybe, she loved that.

XXX

She was waiting for him outside of the locker room, her arms crossed and a sly smile on her face. He emerged with his bag and the belt draped over his shoulder and he looked at her sheepishly.

"Am I in trouble?"

Charly didn't respond, only pulled him into a kiss and looked up at him through her long lashes.

"Congrats, champ,"

"God that is the sexiest thing you've ever said," his voice was thick.

"Guys!" Roman passed them, shaking his head, "you have a hotel room, don't you?"

They laughed, Charly pressing her forehead to his chest.

"You're such teenagers."

"C'mon," Seth said to her, "let's get out of here."

The car ride home was silent, he stared out the passenger window, unable to believe what had just happened to him. Maybe she was trying to wrap her mind around it too. She kept her eyes on the road for the entire ride from the arena to her condo. They'd both been there, there was nothing to discuss. And they both knew the celebration waiting for them at home. As she pulled into her parking spot, he reached over and whispered into her ear.

"Slip into something sexy and wait for me on the bed," he saw the skin of her cheeks flush at his words, "eyes closed."

Her eyes flickered to his, a bit of excitement behind them. "It's your night."

He grinned and got his bags from the trunk, making his way into the master to beat her into the bathroom. Putting his things down, he looked in the mirror and noticed the smile that hadn't seemed to leave his face all night.

"You want a glass of wine?" she called from the kitchen.

"Sure," he called back, closing the bathroom door most of the way.

On the other side of it, he heard her footsteps. There was the clink of the glasses on the bedside table. The clicking of heels stopped and her steps were softer, and then there was the zipper of her dress. He peered out through the crack in the door at her, glass of wine in hand, looking through her underwear drawer and smiled to himself, but decided the sounds were better on their own. She closed a drawer and the barely audible click of her bra made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. The bed creaked slightly as she must've crawled onto it.

"They closed?" he called out.

"Yes," she sighed, "now what?"

"Now you wait."

"Wait?"

"You have wine."

"Hmm."

He chuckled to himself, stripping off his shirt now that she was ready. Kicking the sweat pants and boxers off his legs he took a deep breath. Unsurprisingly, the thought of her waiting for him in lingerie had him plenty excited. He smoothed his beard and ran his hands through his hair, before reaching for the title belt. Smiling smugly, he secured it around his waist. The weight of it against his hipbones and it rubbing against his skin reminded him how uncomfortable it was to wear it like that. It would be worth it, though, for the look on her face.

When he opened the door she was stretched out on the bed, her eyes closed and sipping on her drink. The thin red-wine slip hit low on her chest and high on her thigh, lace framing her exposed skin perfectly.

"Fuck. You're gorgeous." He ate her up with his eyes as a smile crept onto her face.

"Can I open them?"

"Go on,"

Her eyes opened slowly and found him, naked save for the title, and she tipped her head back laughing. She bit her lip, looking him up and down, her eyes devious.

"That's hilarious."

"You fucking love it," he grinned, wandering over to the foot of the bed, "look at you. Blushing, breathing heavy," he crawled towards her on his knees, "those bedroom eyes,"

She trained her eyes on the belt, covering what she wanted. Smirking, she leaned back.

"You and your ego, Rollins,"

He ran his hand up the inside of her thigh and she gasped at the feeling.

"You're with the champ, baby, don't you forget it."

Her eyes closed as he started teasing between her legs. He leaned into a kiss and she gave in entirely to his lips.

"Take it off," she breathed when he pulled away.

"You want it off?"

"Unless you were planning on keeping in on the whole night," she teased.

Seth sighed, "it's too heavy," he pouted and she giggled, kissing him softly as her hands came around to unsnap the belt. He caught it at the plate, not letting it fall off his body. His eyes grazed over her, "you first."

"Your night," she said again, smirking. He had a feeling she liked it being his night and found himself really looking forward to his birthday. She lifted the slip over her head, there was nothing underneath, and her eyes met his as she carelessly dropped it to the floor.

He pulled the belt from his waist, letting her see him, and placed it carefully on the headboard shelf above.

"It can stay there," he told her, rolling onto his back and cradling his head in his hands, "so you can look at it while you ride me,"

"Is that what I'm doing, huh?" she laughed, straddling him and wasting no time to lower herself.

"Fu-" he groaned but was cut off by her lips crashing into his.

"I love you," she murmured against them, "champ."

He kissed her rougher, his hands moving from her hair down to her chest, rolling her between two fingers.

"I love you too. But I won't ask twice," he pinched her gently with a smug smile.

She obliged, moving up and down on him, her hands pressed to his abs. His hands wandered up and down her body, touching every inch of her. Every now and then her eyes would flutter open, usually on a particularly rough thrust, and though she tried to pull them back to Seth, they always were drawn to the belt above him.

"Ha ha ha, you like that, don't you?" he squeezed her gently to a moan. "It's alright, enjoy it. I won it for you."

"Won it for me?" she teased, slowing her pace down as his breath hitched.

"All for you, baby. So that you know you're in bed with the greatest there is,"

Charly lowered her body down, their chests touching, and kissed him softly. "I already knew that"

"I love you, Char," he groaned as their hips moved against each other. "Stay here."

"I live here," she laughed, but he shook his head, serious.

"Stay right here. Forever."

"I will," she quickened her pace and his eyes screwed shut, kissing up and down his cheek and neck. "Right here."


	25. Chapter 25

Seth stood in the lobby of WWE Towers, scrolling through his Twitter on his phone. It'd been nearly a month of the two of them being properly public, and things were going about as well as they expected. They tried to just approach it as matter-of-factly as possible, without going overboard with making it known. He'd tag her when he posted about a restaurant she took him to, and she posted a gym day photo with Sasha that included the Black and Brave shirt he'd bought her. Most of the comments on those sort of things were fine, fawning over how cute they were, bragging about calling it, and telling Seth he was lucky (as if he didn't know). But once in a while, there was a nasty one, accusing her of being a gold-digger or saying something vulgar about the things they'd do together in bed. Renee had warned them of that and he tried his best to ignore it.

"Seth?" a voice came from over his shoulder, Stephanie was walking up to him. "Do we have an appointment?"

He laughed, "you're not the only one who works in this building, Steph."

"We're a long way from Buffalo."

"The drive's not too bad, closer than Europe next week."

"Must be important."

"Taking your advice, actually,"

"My advice?" she tilted her head, mocking him.

"Signing the paperwork with HR with Charly,"

"Oh are you two still together?"

"Yeah, we are, fancy that."

"Hmm, good for you."

"Thanks," he sneered, "you would know all about navigating a backstage romance. Or two."

"Ha," she glared at him, "watch yourself, Rollins."

"You telling me you can dish it out but you can't take it, Steph?" he met her stare, their faces just a tiny bit too close. "C'mon, you're better than that."

The bathroom door swung open and they jumped apart and Charly emerged, running her hands through her hair.

"Hey," she said, an eyebrow raised.

"Hey, Char!" He smiled at her innocently as she looked from him to Steph. "We were just...chatting about HR."

"Oh, that's…nice," she forced a smile and Stephanie returned the painted-on expression.

"Trust me avoiding the messiness is worth giving up the secret," she smirked, "not that it's really an issue for you two anymore."

"Thanks, Stephanie," Seth cut in, "we've got to go,"

He pulled Charly away, nodding to Stephanie politely. As they came to the hallway outside of the HR office, she eyed him from the side. Sheepishly he met her gaze.

"What?"

"What was that?"

"Nothing," he shook his head, "just a stupid pissing contest. She's just being…Steph about it."

"Are you trying to make her jealous?"

"No, I'm not trying to do anything Char, just firing back."

She didn't respond, keeping her gaze on him, her lips pursed.

"It's nothing. I don't care what she thinks about us,"

"Do you care about her?" she crossed her arms.

"Char," he sighed. "Are we doing this here?" he glanced around, the hallway was empty but he'd learned the hard way that wasn't a guarantee.

"It's a simple question, Seth," she scoffed, "so why is it a problem?"

"It's not a simple question and you know it." He sighed and looked towards the office, "do you wanna walk away? We don't have to do this today, we can come back."

"People have seen us, we have to do this today."

"Okay so then," he gestured at the door, "can we do this?"

"Yeah," she breezed past him, "let's do this."

XXX

Seth grumbled his way down the hallway at Monday Night Raw in Dublin. It had been raining since they landed, his knee had gotten tweaked at a house show and was bugging him, Charly had not quite let go the Stephanie issue but hadn't brought it up since. And now, to top it off, he was on his way to her office because "management wanted to see him." She probably wanted to run him down about his relationship, god she was petty.

He knocked on the half open door and pushed into it.

"You wanted to see me, Steph?"

"Steph?" as the door opened it was Hunter, not Stephanie, who sat at the desk. "That how you address my wife?"

"Hunter. Haven't seen you around here recently."

"Steph can't travel, ear infection, I have to fill in." He motioned to the chair. "Sit."

"What's this about?" he asked, crossing his arm as he took the seat.

"You know, I've learned a lot from my father-in-law. Nothing, and I mean nothing, happens in this company without me knowing about it."

"Ha. Really, H?" Seth couldn't help but smirk but Hunter glared at him, "never mind, please, continue."

"Which is why a copy of this came across my desk the other day." He slid over a piece of paper, one Seth immediately recognized as the consensual social relationship waiver he'd signed with Charly late last week.

"Isn't that supposed to be confidential?"

"Nothing's confidential in this business, kid. I'm sure you read it before you signed it."

"Of course I read it. Neither of us can sue for sexual harassment, neither of us can show favoritism to the other, no kissing at work, although I think we both know that's a load of crap around here. Blah blah blah, you know the drill."

"I do, I know it pretty well. There's actually a second one when you're married, in case you divorce."

"Peachy,"

"But see, when Steph and I were dating, and then got in trouble for not signing this off the bat, we weren't in a brand-extension. We are now. Which means there's this clause at the end…"

"No guarantee of going to the same show, sure. Who cares? The draft already happened."

"But she's not a drafted talent. She's contracted, so she goes wherever she's told to go."

"What're you saying?" his eyes narrowed.

Hunter chuckled to himself, "I jus think it's funny you just signed away any right to protest being split up."

"What other choice did we have?"

"Well you didn't, did you? That's how this goes, the company has to protect itself."

"I thought that form was to protect us, you know, from retaliation over the relationship."

"Sure, can't fire her over it, or stall her professional progression. But hey, reassignment happens all the time, it's not personal, we need our best talent where we need our best talent. NXT's really suffering without her."

"You…" he shook his head, "you wouldn't…do that. Why would you do that?"

Hunter smirked, "or you know, things are getting hostile with Renee and Maryse over on SmackDown, maybe a switch would be mutually beneficial to both working environments."

"Oh don't rope Dean and Renee into this,"

"Standing up for your brother? That's cute."

"C'mon. This is you and me, Hunter, I'm the one you hate. No one else needs to suffer."

"You love her, Seth?"

"Charly? Yeah. Of course I do."

"I sure hope so. I hope you love her more than you do Steph."

His heart dropped, "she told you about that?"

He scoffed, "she didn't have to. But thanks for the confirmation. I see it, Seth, for how much you two hate each other you seem to always end up alone in her office."

"That's business,"

"No, it's not. You're always near each other, always exchanging glances. If I didn't know any better I'd say the affair never even ended."

"It did end! Hunter, I don't know what you're talking about, Stephanie and I, we're nothing. We're not even friends anymore. She doesn't give a shit about me."

"You're gonna tell me what's in my own wife's mind?"

"Well you seem to be oblivious," he spat.

"So, Charly Caruso to SmackDown, I'll send the email," he started clicking on the computer, and Seth knew it was a bluff but he didn't care.

"Stop, wait, Hunter, don't." He sighed, looking at his former friend with wild desperation. "What is this? What do you want?"

"I want you to stay the hell away from my wife."

"That's all? There's no affair-"

"Oh I don't mean no secret meetings in her hotel room, I'll kill you if I find out you're at those again, don't think I won't. I mean no chats, no private audiences, no texts, no phone calls, no emails. No pleasantries or small talk, no social interaction whatsoever. If it's not about work, you don't even breathe the same air as Stephanie. Do I make myself clear?"

Seth paused for a minute, trying to run through all the times in the past week they'd had one of those social interactions. There were almost too many to count.

"And Charly stays here?"

"Sure."

"She goes where I go?"

"You're not in a position to be making demands. We'll talk when the trade comes up."

"Okay. No social interactions. Deal."

"And if you slip up, if I catch you in her inbox or at catering, if you so much as look at her, Charly's on the next flight to SmackDown."

"Fine, got it."

"I sure hope you love that little girlfriend of yours more than you want Steph."

"We done here?"

"Close the door on your way out."

XXX

Seth stormed through the halls of the arena, fuming. He was pretty sure that a PA jumped out of his way in terror, so it must have been written all over his face. Charly was just coming out of an interview when he passed her and she smiled at him.

"Hey," she said cheerfully, "just finished up for the night are you-"

"C'mon," he grabbed her arm and led her down to the end of the hall, into one of the small private locker rooms that he'd gotten as the Universal Champion. "I'm not letting them take you from me."

"What?" she sat on the small couch that took up most of the space. "Seth, what're you talking about?"

He was pacing back and forth, running his hands through his hair.

"Triple H just fucking blackmailed me, threatening to move you to SmackDown or back to NXT if I step out of line."

"Step out of line how? Maybe it's a bluff."

"You really willing to take that chance? He's a paranoid bastard, he's trying to keep me under his thumb so that he can keep me away from his wife. No social interactions, as he put it."

"Okay?"

"Okay? What do you mean okay?"

She leaned back and crossed her arms, "so don't have any social interactions with her. Should be easy for you, right?"

"Don't give me that look, Char, I know that look. You use it to get what you want out of your interviews."

"I don't see the issue, Seth," her voice sharpened, "explain to me the issue."

"The issue is he's a crazy person, no chatting, no texts, no private meetings-"

"Were you having chats and texts and private meetings?"

"I-Char, we work together. It's not like I can just not speak to her."

"But socially?"

"I-we-" he sat next to her, cradling his head in his hands.

"Got it."

"Charly." He crossed his arms, "it's not like that, you **know** that it's not like that."

"I don't know that."

"Do you not trust me?" He could almost feel the steam rising from his ears. After everything they'd been through…

"Do you care about her?"

"You didn't answer my question."

"You didn't answer mine."

"Fine. Fine, yeah, you don't just stop caring about a person like that. It's not that simple. It doesn't mean I'm caught up on her."

"Don't you see what he's doing?"

"You didn't answer my question," he said again through gritted teeth.

"Seth he's making you chose between us. He's playing with you, making you give her up completely or lose me-"

"Answer. The question. Charly." He got close to her face, his brow furrowed and snarling. She stared him down, not backing off. The tension between them was white hot, and it was growing as she opened her mouth and very slowly, very softly spoke.

"Why do you ask questions you don't want to know the answer to?"

That was it. It was too much. His lips were against hers fiercely, grabbing the back of her hair. She kissed back with equal ferocity, like it had been building up inside of her too. He pushed her back onto the couch, fighting against her lips for dominance.

"Seth!" she managed as he moved down to nipping on her neck.

"You know, Char," he growled in her ear, "you've been trying to get me to be rougher with you for weeks"

She chuckled, "you can be a little precious,"

"Well lucky for you," he moved to the other side of her neck and she moaned, "I am **real** pissed off right now. That's not going to be an issue."

Charly bit her lip and met his eye, shining deviously.

"I have a feeling you need this as much as I do," he pushed her silky blouse up and reached behind it to undo her bra. She shivered as his hands palmed her, but kept his gaze.

"We talk after this is done."

"Deal," he kissed her roughly and her hands came down to the waistband of his gear. "Get your screaming out now."

She slipped them down off his legs, laughing ever so slightly at the athletic briefs underneath. Pushing her skirt up, he pulled down her panties to her knees and held her hands above her head. He positioned himself between her legs, running up and down her thighs.

"Seth-" she moaned.

He pushed in and she let out a yelp. "Is that what you wanted?"

Kissing him roughly, she didn't bother to respond. Her hips bucked against his, and he gave it to her. She didn't hold back either, wiggling under his hands and moaning. He swirled one of her nipples with his tongue and bit down.

"OW! Seth!"

"Too much? Sorry." He kissed it lightly to a blissful murmur and moved to the other. Her hands were pushing against his and he pushed them back into the couch. "Don't even think about it."

"Like you don't want my hands all in your hair," she scoffed.

"Fine," he let them go so that she could tangle them in his hair. "But I get this," he looped his arms underneath her legs and lifted them to his chest.

"Fu-" she started but he caught her mouth with his. Pounding into her, he watched as she came undone underneath him, her hands pulling at his hair. She was breathing heavy, a mess of moans.

"Oh, that's right baby," he growled, hearing how deep he was hitting. She yelped a few more times, holding him close to her face, her grip not loosening until he lost it. He collapsed down onto her, his hands in her hair and kissed her temple. "Fuck Char… you are so good."

"Someone had some pent-up aggression." She rubbed her leg against his.

He gulped, "did I get too rough?"

"No," she smiled smugly, "it was fun. But don't think it solved anything, Seth."

"Nothing like some mid-fight sex to cool things off," he pushed himself off of her and found a pair of sweatpants. She adjusted herself, tucking her shirt back into her tight mini skirt and fixing her hair. He sighed, watching her find her shoes that had been kicked off. "I love you, Charly."

"I know you do. Which is why," she readjusted her bra underneath, "you're going to cut her off, whatever social interactions he's so concerned about, you're done with them. He'll get over his paranoia, and I'm not going anywhere."

"You're really going to back him on this?"

"I don't wanna go to SmackDown, Seth, I wanna stay here with you. Placate the man, so what?"

"Yeah, this has nothing to do with the fact that you want her out of my life too?"

"You're not getting an encore by picking a fight."

"I'm not picking a fight, you're giving me one."

"Seth! This should be simple. Why can't you let go of her?"

He sighed and sunk into a chair, hanging his head, "I'll stay away from her."

"Okay." Her voice was heavy, but for now, at least, she accepted it.

"I should- you know you can stay in here whenever you want,"

"Yeah, sure," she smoothed her skirt, nodding.

"Good," he stopped again at the door to the bathroom, "is that…is that how you want it? Rough and wild and-"

"Quick?" she giggled, "sometimes."

He nodded, "my command."


	26. Chapter 26

"Whatcha doing?" Seth kicked the hotel closed, balancing a take out bag and a six pack of beer in his hands.

"Watching tape," she sat crossed legged on their bed, her laptop open in front of her and a notebook between her legs. "Lot of homework to do,"

"You work too hard," he smiled at her, opening a bottle and handed it to her.

"This tournament is a big deal,"

"I know," he crawled in behind her, his hands finding her tense shoulders, "I'm proud of you, baby."

"Mmm-"

"But take a break," he whispered in her ear, kneading her shoulders.

"Thirty minutes."

"I only need fifteen," he teased, scooting her back into his body as she melted under his touch. "You wanna eat?"

"No," she giggled.

"Alright," he pressed his lips to her neck and watched her lean forward to hit play on the next video. He pulled her back by her waist, "oh no you don't."

"I need to-Pete Dunne-"

"What do you need to know? He's a psychopath with no regard for anyone's safety. Or for his own, for that matter."

"You know him?"

"I only spent a little bit of time abroad, but yeah I knew him, Neville, Noam. They were all kids at the time, but, they all made it."

"So what's he like?"

"Out of his mind. Look, he's an open book, you won't have to try very hard to get what you want out of him. Just be careful, okay?"

"Okay," she nuzzled against his beard. "What's for dinner?"

"Perogis from the street vendor."

"Living on the edge tonight," she kissed his cheek, closing the laptop as she got up.

"If I get food poisoning I'll make sure they know it was your fault."

That night he drifted off instantly, but her mind was still a mess of UK tournament. His chest was rising and falling easy under her head and she tried to put it all out of her mind and just enjoy having him there next to her. He groaned above her.

"Mmm oh fuck-"

She chuckled to herself, it wasn't every night she caught him in the middle of a blissful little dream.

"Ohh just like that baby…"

Charly bit her lip and snuck her hands between his muscular thighs, squeezing lightly. Might as well give him something to dream about. She rubbed up and down his leg.

"Mmm-oh yeah. So good…so good…oh Steph…"

She halted her hand, looking up at his face. His eyes were closed, his mouth gapping.

"Ohh god-"

Her heart plummeted. He shifted his hips, moaning in his sleep. Seth murmured her name again and unthinking, Charly pulled her leg back and kicked his shin.

"Huh-uh-huh?" he jolted awake and she sheepishly pulled her leg back.

"Hmm?" she put on an innocent face. "You okay?"

"Mmm-yeah"

"Hmm."

"Was uh, was I talking in my sleep?"

"I don't know, were you?"

"Char," he sighed.

She rolled out of the bed, running her hand through her hair and heading for the bathroom.

"Charly!" he called after her, "it was just a dream-"

She didn't respond, just turned on the sink and filled the glass next to it. He followed her, leaning up against the doorway in his boxers, looking at her with those big brown eyes.

"Char, I promise, I'm not sleeping with her. Dreams are funny."

"I didn't say you were."

"You were thinking about it."

"Yeah well," she met his eye in the mirror, "so were you."

"Charly, it's just desire,"

She scoffed and he sighed.

"Don't give me that. Am I the only guy you ever want to see naked anymore? Don't flatter me, Caruso, that's bullshit."

"Not like that."

"Oh no? Not about Noam? Or, I don't know, Finn?"

Share glared at him and poured the rest of the glass down the sink. He smirked.

"Yeah, I know your type."

"Okay but I don't have sex dreams about them while laying next to another man."

"It doesn't mean anything. She doesn't mean anything. You gotta trust me about that."

Charly sighed, "yeah, I guess."

"You guess?"

"Don't expect too much," she breezed past him, shutting the light off as she went, leaving him in the dark.

"I love you," he called over his shoulder.

XXX

Charly stretched out on the couch in his locker room a few days later, in Vienna. Not every arena bothered with these VIP rooms, but when they did it was good to be dating the Champ. She liked the quiet moments away from the craziness to collect her thoughts and plan her interviews. The water was running in the bathroom, Seth's usual pre-match shower, and it was soothing just to listen to him humming off-key.

The door opened and he stepped out, a towel wrapped around his waist and another rubbing his hair. He jumped slightly as he saw her sitting there.

"Oh! Didn't hear you come in…"

"Was I interrupting something?"

"Char,"

"Never mind," she looked down at her notes and then back to him, "it's okay right?"

"You being in here? Of course, you know that."

"It's nice. Quite," she scribbled a note on the side of her interview prep. "Good view,"

He grinned, "Yeah?" his knees straddled her, pushing her back onto the couch. His lips met hers, warm and wet.

She giggled, pushing him off by his bare chest, "Seth!"

Tossing his towel to the side, Seth pushed himself against her, her tight skirt hiking up in the process. He pressed his lips to her neck, kissing up and down as she moved underneath him. The teasing was getting to her quickly, she ran her hands up and down his shoulders as she kissed back, the hair on his body was still damp. He started grinding his hips against her and she let out a yelp, looking back towards the door of the locker room.

"No one has swipe access but us," he whispered in her ear before nipping at it. "And I think you need this, so relax."

She gave into his kiss, letting her body go limp and just enjoy it. It wasn't easy for her, to give up control like that, to let him have all of her. But as he moved his body up and down, letting her taste his skin, making her want him, she didn't mind it. He gave her neck another sloppy kiss and she let out a long moan, her eyes screwed shut.

And then the door flung open.

"Seth we need to ta-oh!" Stephanie half closed the door, looking away, "sorry, didn't mean to interrupt."

He groaned, pulling himself up off of her. "Okay, almost no one has swipe access but us."

"We need to talk, Seth," Stephanie repeated.

"Can I put on pants first?" he grumbled, wrapping the towel around his waist again. Charly straightened her skirt and blouse uncomfortably.

"Please."

"What's this about, Stephanie?" he asked as he pulled up his ring tights.

"Business," she responded simply.

"Alright," he crossed his arms and leaned against the table. Stephanie glanced at Charly and gave Seth a look. He shook his head, "anything you have to say to me you can say in front of her."

"I think we should speak privately, Seth," she sent him another knowing look.

He sighed, "I'll come find you later, okay?"

"Oh, uh, sure," Charly glanced back at him as she made for the door, "I'll see you after."

"Okay. I love you."

"Yeah, you too,"

The door closed behind her, leaving the two of them alone in his locker room. She tried to push away the image of Stephanie on the couch with him, running her hands over his skin. Why would he give into her that easily? Was it always like that, and Charly just refused to see it? Was it really just desire and nothing more?

She was in a fog as she made her way to the preshow desk, her thoughts eating her up. When someone tapped her on the shoulder, she nearly jumped out of her skin.

"Whoa! Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," Hunter smiled kindly.

"No, that's, that's okay. I was just caught up."

"You alright?"

"Yeah! Of course, just...thinking about something."

"Well, any chance you've seen Stephanie?" he raised an eyebrow at her.

"Stephanie? Uh no, I mean, yeah, I saw her a bit ago. At catering."

"Catering? When was that?"

"Don't remember," her heart was beating out of her chest, did he know? "Sorry, Hunter."

He smiled slyly, "That's something else."

"What is?"

"After all he puts you through, you're standing here lying for him. Stephanie doesn't exactly mingle in catering, Charly."

"I..."

"It's alright. Love's like that, huh? Thanks for your help, I know where she is," he turned and began to walk off, but paused and looked back at her, "you coming?"

XXX

"Let me guess," Stephanie took a seat on the couch, casually moving her hair to one side, "trying to prove your fidelity?"

"What do you want, Steph?"

"It's cute, you bending over backward to earn her trust."

"What do you **want** , Steph?"

She smirked, "what makes you think I want something? Maybe this is a social visit."

"Well I can't be having social visits with you anymore,"

"So I've heard," she leaned back, "but my husband doesn't tell me what I can and can't do."

"I'm not interested in being a part of your rebellion."

"You shouldn't let him bully you like that,"

"Oh, so you're on my side now?" It was his turn to smirk.

"Maybe you don't feel like it, but I'm always on your side."

"That's bullshit, Steph, and you know it. You were never gonna pick me over him-"

"Did you expect me to?"

"This is old news. I don't care anymore. If H wants me to stay away from you, then that's what I'll do."

"To keep Charly around."

He scoffed, "you know, you're starting to sound just the tiniest bit jealous, buttercup."

She rolled her eyes, "buttercup."

"You used to like it when I called you that," he said softly, finding himself smiling at the memory.

"Frankly Seth, I liked what you were doing while you called me that."

"Yeah? When I was behind you, whispering sweet little words into your ear?"

Now she was blushing, "yeah that was pretty alright,"

"Is that what you think about? When he's giving you the same old boring shit over and over?"

Her face contorted, "so that's how it's gonna be, huh?"

"Think I don't know a set-up when I see one?"

"I'm not here to set you up, I don't like Hunter's threat any more than you do."

"Why?"

"Because," she sighed, "I don't want this to go away."

"This? This is anything."

"Don't bullshit yourself, Seth," she laughed. "You might be going home to her every night, but you've never stopped this dance with me."

"And you're married, Steph, you go home to him and three little kids. The hell are you doing still in it?"

"Yeah well, marriage is hard, you'd know that if you made it that far."

"Ouch."

"And dancing around you," she shrugged, "I like it."

"You need it. That's what this about huh?"

"What and you want to give it up? You love this dance, you love giving me a hard time, you love that you know how to push my buttons,"

"And I'm damn good at it."

"So why let it go?"

"Why let it go? Steph," he shook his head, " because I'm in love with Charly and I'm not gonna let your damn husband take her away from me."

"You used to say the same thing about me."

"There it is again. You're jealous,"

"You've been jealous since the day we met." She leaned forward, "you've always wanted me all to yourself."

"But that's not what you're offering here…" he knitted his brow, "is it?"

"What if it is?" she asked coyly, an eyebrow raised.

"It's not."

"But what if it was? What would you do?"

His stomach twisted in a knot. "Why?"

"I'm just curious. Would you? Walk away?"

"Fuck, Steph, this is so like you," he paced up and down the room. "You don't give a shit about me," his blood was boiling, steam pouring from his ears, "you don't want me, you don't want to be with me, you just wanna fuck this up for me because that's the heartless bi-"

"Watch yourself, Rollins," she shot up, "I came in here to offer you a way out of your arrangement with Hunter."

"You came in here to fuck with my head," he said through gritted teeth. They were starting to shout, he knew it was dangerous, but he didn't care.

"If this is fucking with your head then maybe you're not as committed to your relationship as you think."

"What is this to you? What sick, cruel game are you playing? What do you even want Steph?"

"I told you what I wanted," she spat.

"No, you want to control, you want me to want you so badly I'd give up everything else. This isn't about me, this isn't about us, it's about you. It's always about you. And you know what?" he could feel the pressure behind his eyes, forcing himself not to break down as his voice raised, "there was a time, there was a part of me that believed maybe you really cared- maybe even that you actually **loved** me…but that's bullshit just like everything else, isn't it? You don't care about anyone but you, so just fucking leave-" he flung the door open, just to find Hunter and Charly standing on the other side.

"Well well well," Hunter crossed his arms and smirked, but Charly, she looked defeated.

"How long have you been there?"

"Long enough," he said smugly, pushing his way into the room, "isn't that right, Charly?"

She looked at Seth with that look, those kind eyes dejected, struggling to understand. But she didn't say anything, finding a place on the wall next to the door and leaning her head against it. Stephanie stepped in.

"Hunter, calm down, this isn't-"

"Oh, I am plenty clam, babe. You know how much I love being right. Just couldn't stay away from each other, could you?"

"We were just talking about-" Seth tried to explain, but the point was moot.

"I know exactly what you were talking about, Seth. And so does Charly, doesn't she?" he turned towards her and she just shook her head, speechless.

"So why the hell are you sending her away for what Steph and I do, huh? You hate me, fine, don't punish her for it."

"You really that stupid?" Hunter laughed, his eyes glimmering, "I was never going to move her from Raw."

"You're not?" Seth felt a weight lift from his chest.

"Of course not! God, I wouldn't give up one of our best backstage talents over you," he laughed again. "But now I know exactly how far you're willing to go, what you're willing to do, just to have my wife around,"

His stomach twisted again, realizing how he'd been played.

"and so does she," Hunter looked over to Charly, "so good luck."

With that, he turned for the door and Stephanie hurried after him. The door slammed close. He looked over to Charly, her eyes trained on him. She slipped down the wall, falling down to the floor like her knees couldn't hold her anymore.

"Char-" he went over and sat next to her, his knees to his chest. "That wasn't-"

"Don't tell me what it wasn't," she whispered, not looking at him.

"It was a set-up."

"And you fell for it,"

"I was telling her to get out,"

"Because you realized she was never going to love you the way you love her." She scoffed, "I can't believe I was this stupid."

"You're not stupid, you're not listening to me. I didn't do anything Char,"

"You lied," her head turned towards him suddenly, he hated it when she raised her voice to him. It meant she was hurt, deeply, deeply hurt. "You told me you were over it, that it was just desire, it didn't mean anything."

"It doesn't," he gritted his teeth. "It's just ancient history-"

"You miss her," she shook her head.

"I-" he sighed, "I just miss…pieces of what it was…"

"So you still want her." She blinked tears out of her eyes. "Do you even want to be with me?"

"Yes, Char, yes I-" he gulped, "this is shit timing, but-"

"But what?"

"I got an offer on the house."

"What?"

"My house. I can sell it, finally get out of that place. I just need to find somewhere to live and it's done."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"I, uh, I thought maybe…I mean, you have the room, we could…"

"You're not serious," she stood up shaking her head, "you're not taking **this** moment to ask me to move in with you."

"The timing is bad, I know," he said, getting to his feet too. "But it's what I want,"

She ran her hands through her hair, shaking her head, "we are **not** doing this right now."

"I know I know, but I'm crunched for time, they're anxious and I need to be able to accept it when I get home-"

"Well I don't know if you and me will even be together when we get home!" she spewed, her eyes welling with tears.

His heart dropped into his stomach, "baby,"

She didn't give him a chance, turning on her heels and slamming the door behind her. He ran his hands through his hair, how on earth did he manage to fuck this up this badly?


	27. Chapter 27

Seth took a deep breath as he swiped his key into their hotel room that night. He had to stay back late, discussing strategy with Finn after a tag match was announced for tomorrow night. Fine, she'd texted back, she had a ride. It would be the last on their tour, Milan. After that, he'd go home for a couple nights and head to the next loop, starting in Kansas City, and Charly would get a day in Blackpool before working the UK tournament all weekend. They gave her the week off after to spend some time with her family in Indianapolis. It was the absolute worst time to be in a fight like this. He needed to fix it. Tonight.

He pushed the door open, "baby, I-" he trailed off, looking around the empty room. "should apologize…" he finished weakly. His heart dropped into his stomach, a million thoughts running through his head.

The bed was perfectly made, no bags, no jackets strewn about, no light in the bathroom. He shoved his suitcase to the side and sat down on the bed, cradling his head in his hands. After a moment, he let himself breath again and decided he was composed enough to try to find her.

The phone rang for a minute before Sasha picked up, "yep?"

"Is she with you?"

"Is who with me?" she said nonchalantly, half paying attention.

"Sash."

She sighed, "yeah, she's here."

"Will you-"

"Nope."

"SASH."

"Sorry, bud, girl code. Wha-" there was some murmuring he couldn't make out, Sasha talking to someone as she covered the phone, "just your luck, she wants to talk to you too."

"Good, put her on."

They shuffled for a moment, and Charly's voice was low and soft as she took the phone. "Hi."

"Char," he breathed deeply, "you scared the shit out of me."

"Sorry, I just couldn't…"

"We're in a foreign country for god sakes!"

"I'm fine, Seth. Was this your first call?"

"Yeah," he sighed, she had him there. He had known exactly why she hadn't shown up. This guilt trip was just that.

"So. I mean,"

"You still ran off."

"I know,"

"I thought you were done bolting, Charly,"

"Yeah, I know."

"So come home. Let's talk about this."

"I don't have anything to say," her voice trembled.

"I sincerely doubt that babe," he groaned, "look, Char, I can't fix this unless you talk to me."

"Maybe you can't fix this at all."

"Don't say that. Not unless you mean it. Not unless you're prepared to walk away."

There was silence. He could hear her breathing, looking for her thoughts.

"Come home," he begged, he didn't care if it sounded desperate.

"I can't."

"Yes. Yes, you can. We can get through this."

"Not tonight."

"Char- CHARLY!" he heard the other end go dead, "goddammit Charly!"

He called Charly's phone, it went to voicemail after one ring. "Fuck!" he threw it onto the bed and collapsed down onto the mattress. It was cold that night, an unexpected cold front settling into the spring air as rain fell down in sheets. The hotel wasn't fully prepared for it, the heat struggled to keep up after being turned off for the season. Seth found himself shivering in the sheets, unable to sleep, and wishing that she had come home. At least then he could hold her, even if she was mad she'd let him hold her. And that, its own little way, would make it all just that much more okay.

The night seemed to last forever, but morning came, as it always did, and he caught his flight, went to work, showered and combed his hair, the routine grating on him. Then the door opened and shut softly. He looked in the mirror, but it was fogged over, so he had to peer out of the ajar bathroom door.

Charly sat on his couch, her legs crossed, studying her laptop carefully and typing notes. It made him smile, watching her, so focused on her work, blinders on. He pushed the door open and she didn't look up. So he cleared his throat, and her head snapped up to him.

"I uh, I thought you had a match…"

"Got moved to main event."

"Oh. Good."

"Yeah," he smiled softly, "it is, it is good."

"I should-" she closed her laptop and tucked it under her arm.

"You can be in here."

"No, no, I should go," she hurried out of the room before he had a chance to protest and he sighed, knowing full well it would be the last he saw of her for a while.

It was true, she was avoiding him all night. Not that it was hard for her today, she always had an excuse to run off. She didn't spend the night in his room again, and much as he begged Sasha to help him out, she told him to deal with his shit rather than get her to sell out Charly. And then he was boarding a flight back to Buffalo and obsessively refreshing her social media. There was an Instagram, a bubble bath drawn in a hotel tub, a generous glass of wine poured by the side. _A long week and long (awesome) weekend ahead of me. TGIF, right?_

He sighed, guilty that he'd made her week stressful, but also a twinge of annoyance. She was the one who wouldn't return his calls, after all. When Charly bolted, there was no catching her until she decided she was ready to be caught. He supposed that meant he had to wait, then. It wasn't exactly pleasant, watching her from afar.

So he boarded the plane. And she took her bath, waiting for him to walk through the bathroom door, pretending to brush his teeth, and then wash his face, and then something else, just to watch her lay there blissfully and smile smugly at him. He got home, picked up his dog, Kevin, from his parent's place. She picked out her outfits for the tournament and studied her notes some more. She went to the arena, did her job with a smile on her face because it was all she knew how to do. He watched her from her couch, Kevin curled under his arm because he didn't know what else there was to do.

And it went on like that for a week. She flew back to Indianapolis, met up with her sister and got brunch. He went to Raw, took his anger out on Neville, who probably had it coming anyway. Every time he thought he would call her, text her, carrier pigeon her, he stopped, and wait for her come to him first. She didn't. For a week, it was radio silence.

Sunday night she flew into LAX to meet up with some of the girls after a joint house show before Raw in Anaheim. She still hadn't spoken to him since Milan. What could she possibly say? She couldn't accept what she had heard, how much he had wanted Stephanie. But she wasn't ready to leave him, either.

The LA bar was surprisingly chill, quite enough to hold a conversation. It became obvious why, though, after Renee and Brie showed up, the Total Divas crew in toe.

"You didn't tell me the cameras were coming," she whispered to Renee as they waited at the bar for their drinks.

"I thought you knew…"

"How would I know that?"

"Char, they're scouting you."

"What?" she rolled her eyes, "that's crazy. Why would they want me on the show?"

"Oh, the usual, pretty, smart, sharp mouth…"

"And?"

Renee sighed, "and you're seeing Rollins. They probably want that budding WWE relationship on the show."

Charly sighed, stirring her straw in her margarita, "I'm not so sure,"

"Look, I like to think I got the gig because of my wit, but Dean helped my case."

"No I mean, I'm not so sure I'm seeing Rollins."

"What? What happened? Did he cheat on you?"

"No but he wants to," she shook her head, "and isn't that just as bad?"

"I can't answer that for you, babe."

"Forget it, let's just get back to the group."

Brie and Nikki were bickering about Brie's commitment to cloth diapers as they sat down. Renee tried to play peacekeeper. Lana and Maryse came by a few minutes later, ordering appetizers for the table and gossiping. It was something about John's newest movie, talking about the actress who was playing his love interest this time. Nikki insisted it was no big deal, Maryse wasn't so sure.

"So, Charly," Brie turned the conversation away from Nikki since she was starting to look frustrated, "how's Seth?"

"Oh, he's good. He's, you know, flying high with the championship right now."

"I'm really happy for him," Renee tipped her head, "he was heartbroken when he had to give it up."

"I'm sure."

"You two doing good?" Nikki asked, "road life's hard."

"Yeah, yeah it is but, it's okay."

"I nearly spit out my drink when he called you his girlfriend," Brie said with a little laugh. "I mean, Rollins is just sort of…uh,"

"A free spirit," Nikki finished, nudging her sister. "Don't be rude."

"It's okay," Charly forced a smile, "he wouldn't be Seth if he wasn't a little… rambunctious sometimes."

"That's one word for it," Maryse sipped her drink with a raise of her eyebrows.

Charly felt a knot in her stomach, the growing need to prove herself to these girls she barely knew. And the fact that they might be right about him.

"It's alright, he's settling down a bit."

"Really?"

"Really," she felt the words coming out. Why did she feel like she needed to defend this? "He wants to move in."

"What?" Renee looked stunned for the second time that night.

"That's…fast," said Lana.

"Well the timing isn't really on him, he got an offer on the house and says he wants to move to Orlando with me when he sells it."

"Are you going to?" Renee was the only one who knew the full story, or at least most of it.

"Haven't decided. I mean, it's fast, but we've been seeing each other since November and it's hard to be in separate towns when we're not on the road."

"I thought he loved that house," Nikki asked with a furrowed brow, "why does he want to sell it?"

"Memories, probably," Renee answered for her.

"Ohh right. The ex-fiancé."

"And cheating on her in their bed," Lana said nonchalantly to glares from the Bellas and Renee, "what? Oh, come on. She knows it, we all know it."

"It's in the past," she managed.

"Yeah but," Maryse jumped in, "how do you know he's not going to do it to you?"

"How do you?" Charly responded, more defensively than she meant. She tried to even out her voice, "I mean, look, he doesn't have the best track record but the truth is none of us know for sure, right? You have to be willing to put your trust in him or it's never going to work. And we all do it every single day. Love is always a leap of faith and Seth is… he's worth the extra risk."

A hush fell over the table, the twins nodding and Maryse taking a long swig of her drink to avoid answering to Charly's response.

"So, anyway," she said awkwardly.

"That was great," the producer popped up behind one of the camera guys. "Can you do it again so that we can get a close-up?"

Charly rolled her eyes, "I'm gonna go to the bathroom."

Renee chased after her, "hey, Char. What's going on?"

"I'm sorry," she said, leaning on the counter of the sink, "she just pissed me off."

"Maryse pisses everyone off all the time, it's fine. What's going on with you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Thirty minutes ago you said you weren't sure if there was a you and Rollins anymore, now you're saying he asked to move in? That's a 180."

"I know, his timing was awful."

"Are you gonna let him move in?"

Charly looked down at the dripping sink, "I don't know. They're right."

"But you're right too. Did you mean it back there? That he's worth a bigger risk?"

"He is anything but boring," she sighed, "I really love him, Ne,"

"Yeah, I know. C'mon, your audition tape is going so well already, you can't hide in the bathroom for the rest of it."

She rolled her eyes but let Renee put an arm around her neck. There was no going back from a guy like Seth Rollins.

XXX

Monday evening, she swiped her card into the private locker room. The pad flashed red. She furrowed her brow, tried again, but again it flashed red, she didn't have access today. Taking a deep breath, she lifted her hand to knock on the door. But before she could, she felt something behind her and jumped to see Seth right there. God, he was quite sometimes. He swiped his own card and it lit up green, his gaze came back to her as he nodded, wordlessly, for her to go on. She pushed into the room and the door clicked behind them. Seth put his duffle down on the table and leaned up against it, his eyes trained on her.

She gulped, "hey."

"Hey?" he scoffed, shaking his head, "I haven't heard a word from you in over a week, Char, and you wanna go with hey?"

"I needed the space."

"Yeah, it always starts that way."

"We were going to be apart no matter what, okay?"

"Well, I don't appreciate the cold shoulder. I've been trying to apologize, if you hadn't noticed."

"I know, I'm sorry."

"Not to mention you left me hanging about the house situation."

"I just needed to think."

"Okay, so, you've thought, and?" his eyes were soft and his voice almost pleading. "Should I sell the house?"

"Fine, sure, I don't care, I-"

"You don't care?" his face dropped, "no, that's not…I can't accept that."

"I didn't mean-"

"Are you ending this?" his eyes were sadder than she'd ever seen them before. "Because I will do anything, _anything."_

She ran her hands through her hair, "no…I don't know."

"I just want to spend more time with you, Char. Is that so much to ask? If you're not ready, then I'll rent somewhere else but don't tell me you don't care."

"Aren't you going to do whatever you want anyway?" she spat, suddenly frustrated.

"Whoa."

"I told you just stay away from Stephanie and what did you do?"

"Hey, I've been trying to apologize but you haven't given me much of a chance."

"You're just going to do it again, so what does it matter?" she slumped down on the couch, her eyes starting to water.

"It matters," he said sternly, causing her to look up at him. "It matters."

He sat next to her and pulled her onto his lap, pushing the hair out of her face as she felt the tears starting to stream down.

"I'm sorry baby,"

"Me too," she managed, leaning her head on his shoulder, "I should've called."

"Well if you were trying to punish me-"

"I wasn't-" she stopped half way through. She had after all, hadn't she? "I'm sorry," she said instead, "I won't do that."

"Me neither," he half-smiled, like he was trying to tell himself the same.

"Will you?"

Seth gulped, "I know I let you down."

"Yeah,"

"Stephanie is…important to me," he admitted with a sigh.

"Why?"

"Because…having someone who believes in you that way it's, it's hard to find and it's hard to give up."

"I believe in you."

"Yeah," he smiled at her, "I know you think you do,"

"Think? No, I do-"

"Charly you don't understand-"

"Don't tell me what I don't understand. Why is that not enough for you?"

"Do you think it was Triple H's idea to peg me as the future of this company? No, he saw an indie kid with an indie attitude. But Steph convinced him to try me out, long before the affair, she just believed in what I could be. You know what I am, but… it is harder to see someone for their potential,"

"You think I can't see who you could be?" she shook her head. "Seth if this all went away tomorrow, the title, the money, the private locker room, I'd still be here. You know that right?"

"Of course I do,"

"I'm not just in love with the Universal Champion Seth Rollins,"

"But it kind of turns you on?"

"Seth,"

"Sorry."

"This is all going to go away one day, and it'll just be me and you," she pushed his hair back, "just us and a little house, drinking coffee on the porch in the morning because it's the only five minutes we get together and that matters, and I…want that too, Seth,"

"You've thought about this before."

She nodded shyly. He gently tipped her chin down so he could kiss her, and when they pulled apart, she looked him square in the eye.

"You have to try harder."

"I know,"

"I get it, you have impulses, love isn't simple like that. But I can't stand by and watch you get manipulated by how much you want another woman. It kills me."

"That's fair. I don't… mean to,"

"She's got a pretty bad hold on you, huh?"

"Yeah…I'm sorry I lied about it. I was hoping it would go away."

"Me too," she nodded, "but if this is part of it, then I guess we have to deal with it."

"You sure you want it all? All my crap baggage."

"Bring it," she smiled and kissed him again, "when do you have to be out of your place?"


	28. Chapter 28

"KEVIN! You are a goddamn embarrassment!" Seth shouted as his Yorkie hid under a floral patterned armchair.

"What's happening?" Charly appeared in the door, shaking out a freshly washed sheet in her hands.

"He's hiding from your damn cat."

"Aww Mittens," she cooed, "did you scare him?"

"Jesus."

"You think they'll learn to get along?"

"Oh about as well we will," he wrapped his arms around her waist and pressed his lips to her neck. "You sure you're gonna be okay with him?"

"He's hiding from my cat right now."

"I'm serious."

"You're not choosing between us so,"

"Actually, sometimes I worry about if he's really happy splitting his time between me and my brother. He'd take him full time in a heartbeat if I asked."

"I wouldn't ask you to do that,"

"It's an option," he kissed her cheek, "if he scares you."

"I'll just sic Mittens on him."

Seth shook his head and laughed, "you want help with those?"

"Sure," she led him into the bedroom where his king sized bed overpowered the gray and pink room.

She handed him a corner of the crisp white sheet and leaned over to secure her side. He watched the curve of her body under the thin sleep shirt, but followed suit and helped her smooth out the fitted sheet. Handing him the corner of the navy comforter, she smiled.

"You like this?"

"Of course I like it, stop asking."

There was an issue with the movers, and she ended up having to go shopping for the essentials alone while he waited for them. It wasn't easy trying to combine their stuff when Charly had already settled in comfortably. Only a few of his things had even made it into the place, but he didn't mind. He wanted nothing more than to leave that chapter of his life behind him.

"We'll go pick out a few things next week," he offered in hopes of making her feel better, "manly, manly things."

She laughed, collapsing down to the newly made bed, "I'm starting to get the feeling you actually really like pink and florals."

"Maybe I do," he smirked, leaning up against the footboard, watching her crawl under the covers. "But you know, this bed is basically all I got around here."

"You have that big-ass flatscreen and a framed photo of the Shield, which you know, is kind of weird."

"But mostly, I have this bed."

"Mmm, it's a great bed," she curled into the pillows.

"Which makes it my domain."

"Is that right?"

He climbed in next to her, kissing her lightly on the lips. "Yeah, I think so. And in my domain, there are no clothes in bed."

She smirked, biting her lip for a second before slipping the shirt over her head and dropping it to the floor. He grinned and shimmied out of his sweatpants before crawling under the covers too. Kissing her, he let his hands wander through her hair and over the soft skin of her back.

"Hey so, I've been meaning to tell you-" she said against his lips and he opened his eyes.

"Right now?"

"What was one round of christening no enough?"

"No?" he smiled innocently and she tipped her head at him, "okay go on."

"I got a call from Coranno this morning."

"Yeah?"

"They want me on Total Divas"

"Oh. That's…good."

"I'm not gonna do it, obviously."

"Obviously?"

"Yeah I mean," she shifted onto her side, holding the comforter to her chest, "they only want me for you."

"Babe, I'm sure that's not-"

"Yes it is, and you know it. They want the budding romance, and the drama,"

"Drama?"

"People are already treating me differently," she shifted in the sheets uncomfortably.

"Who?"

"Seth,"

"Tell me, I'll beat them up."

"Literally all of the girls."

"Oh at once? Yeah okay that I can't do," he laughed and she curled up against his body. "Seriously, you don't need to worry about that. No one is taking you from me. I promise.

"Okay," she pressed her lips to the crook of his neck.

"I think you should take it."

"What?" she sat up suddenly. "You want cameras following around our lives?"

"Of course not,"

"So case closed."

"Char," he sighed and sat up next to her, "be reasonable."

"Oh, so it's unreasonable to not want my life poked and prodded until I make an ass of myself?"

"It doesn't have to be like that. Nikki Bella's producing next season, her and Brie have more control on that thing than we've seen. All those girls know how to work the camera, they'll protect you from making some ass out of yourself."

"You think those girls give a damn about me?"

"I think you'd be surprised. And they've all said that looking back on big moments is worth the occasional dirty laundry aired."

"The studio isn't after just dirty laundry, they're after a full-blown explosion."

"Explosion of what?" he watched as she looked away and mumbled never mind. "I see,"

"Forget it," she said.

"You think they want you on the show so that they can pop ratings with a cheating angle."

"I didn't say that."

"You never do," he ran his hands through his hair and sighed. "Look, I can't force you to see how much you mean to me, I can't make you believe I won't do that if you don't, and I'm **not** going to grovel for your forgiveness for something I haven't done. So either that's good enough, or it's not."

She scoffed, leaning back against the headboard, "this is exactly what they're after."

"I think it's a good opportunity. Connections, exposure, the pay."

"So I should take it for the money? For walking red carpets at low-level Hollywood events and magazine covers?"

"You don't get paid half of what you're worth, and you know it. And GQ would be damn lucky to have you on their cover."

Charly felt the corners of her lips turning upwards, "you'd be all about that, wouldn't you?"

"I'd have it framed," he smiled back and kissed her softly on the lips. "I just think you should consider it."

"Okay. I'll consider it."

"Good," he curled his body up against hers, his bare thighs encasing her legs. "I just want the best for you, beautiful."

"And it has nothing to do with being produced into situations with Renee?"

"Renee?"

"And Dean?"

"What! Don't be ridiculous."

"Okay, just a thought."

"It's got nothing to do with this. I mean, it is kind of weird that we never hang out together, seeing as you and Renee are so close, but whatever."

"You wanna double-date with Dean and Renee?"

"Why not?"

"Because he hates you?"

"Oh. Right."

XXX

"I thought this vacation was supposed to be all about **me** ," Seth grumbled from the porch of the Hawaiian resort room.

Charly laughed, dipping her hand in the hot bath water in the soaking tub between the bathroom and the bedroom. "You're welcome to join me."

"I hate baths." He slunk back to the bed, picking up his mystery novel.

"Well, then," she laughed, dropping her towel to the floor. His eyes followed her as she stepped into the tub, lowering herself down and sighing as the hot water touched her body. She caught his eye, fixed on her, a sly smile on his face. "What?"

"Well it is my birthday after all," he smirked, "and we picked this place for the view."

"Are you going to let me enjoy my bath, birthday boy?"

"Don't bother getting dressed," he chuckled, returning to his book.

"I think you're supposed to be making us reservations."

He rolled his eyes, reaching for the hotel phone, "do I have to do everything around here?"

She responded by leaning her head back lazily, not paying much attention to whether or not she was underneath the water. Seth smirked.

"Fair enough."

An hour or so later, he was running gel through his hair, pulling it back into a low bun. His heart was beating out of his chest and he tried to steady his hands. He'd moved in almost a month ago, but they hadn't gone anywhere together, not as a couple. They'd never left his wrestler and her announcer behind and boarded a plane for a sandy beach before. At this point, he was just hoping that she would still like him out here.

"I'm meeting up with Nikki when we fly through LAX," said her voice behind him.

"Total Divas?" his eyes focused on the shirt buttons under his fingers.

"Yeah she offered to answer my questions and you know,"

"Calm your mind?"

"We'll see."

He chuckled, his fingers struggling with his cufflinks, "you're nothing if not strong-willed, Char."

"You want help?" her soft fingertips were on his wrists and his eyes followed the line of her body, down a slinky lilac dress, plunging deep and wrapping around her hips beautifully. She smiled sweetly and connected the cufflink on his right hand, while his jaw stayed glued to the floor.

"There," she said, "ready to go?"

"No," he shook his head, smirking and eating her up with his eyes.

"Seeeeeth," she groaned as he pressed his lips to her neck, "I'm hungry."

"Okay, fine, I mean far be for me to get in between you and lobster mac n cheese."

"Thank you," she said in a sing-song voice, slipping into a pair of strappy pumps that only made it worse.

"But I want my birthday cake in bed."

XXX

She looked out along the beach, her ankles crossed casually and her menu on her lap. In the candle light, she seemed to glow even more than usual.

"You ever gonna pick out what you want to eat?" he teased, breaking her out of her daydream.

She chuckled, "it's beautiful."

"Isn't it?" he grinned, his eyes grazing over her again and she blushed.

"What's gotten into you today?"

"Just can't get enough, that's all." He took her hand and pressed it to his lips gently, watching her melt ever so slightly. "Feeling really, really…lucky tonight."

"Lucky?"

"Now don't get dirty with me." He leaned in on his elbows, "seriously, Char, you're the only present I need this year."

"Well that's good, I didn't get you another one," she grinned and flipped her hair.

He laughed, "that's alright,"

"Oh except for…"

"What?"

She reached into her clutch and pulled out a folded piece of paper, handing it to him.

"Did you name a star after me?"

"Open it."

He unfolded it and started reading it. His brow furrowed. "This is a copy of your lease."

"Is it?"

Seth bit his lip, the corners turning upwards, "you put me on your lease…our lease?"

"It's our house, isn't it? You didn't seem too pleased with me being your landlady."

"This is very sweet, kind of weird, but very, very sweet."

"It's a romantic gesture," she teased, blushing.

"A romantic gesture you needed my social security number for, you stalker."

"You keep it with your passport, I'm a white hat stalker. Revealing your weaknesses so you can fix them."

"I think you know a thing or two about my weaknesses."

"Now who's being dirty?"

He leaned forward to kiss her cheek, "I love your gift."

"You're welcome."

"I'll show you just how much tonight."

XXX

She spent the night wrapped up in his body, letting him have it slow and long. His hands wandered up and down her back, his hair sticking to his neck with sweat. Charly pushed him onto his back and climbed on top as he melted into the bed. Flipping some of her hair over her shoulder, she braced herself against his chest and began moving up and down.

"I stand corrected," he breathed, "this is my favorite view."

"Oh shush," she pressed her lips to his neck until he moaned, her fingertips exploring the taut muscles of his biceps.

His hands wrapped around her back, holding her closer. He leaned in close and whispered in her ear.

"Say it,"

She giggled, "what?"

"What I like to hear," he purred, "say it, and I swear I'll flip you over right now, give it to you so good,"

"This is good,"

"This is good for me," he nipped at her ear, "has been for hours,"

"Trying to get me to compliment your stamina?" she teased through a hitch of her breath.

"I wanna give you what you want," he smiled slyly and she kissed him roughly. He bucked his hips in return.

"Seeeeth…"

"Atta girl," he grinned and flipped her onto her back, encasing her with his larger frame and beginning to thrust harder. She gripped his shoulders, feeling his teeth catch her lower lip and moaned into it. He snickered, "there ya go."

"Loud enough for you?" she taunted.

He kissed her again, "you're perfect. Always."

"Always?" she laughed, running her hands through his hair.

"Every second of every day." He kissed her temple, "what do you say we bring this bad boy home?"

"Oh you done?"

"Almost," he hooked her legs over his shoulders and pushed in deeply, making her head tip back blissfully. He chuckled again, watching her face. "Ah Charly, Charly, beautiful Charly."

"Haven't heard you say that in a while," she whispered.

"Still as true today as the first day I met you," he thrust slow but hard, watching her wither underneath him. "Still as eager to catch you."

"Pretty sure-oh- you've got me," she gasped as he picked up the pace.

"Never enough," he slammed into her and she let out a yelp, screwing her eyes shut. "I'm never gonna stop-" now it was him trying to catch his breath, "trying to show you-I'm the right one."

"I know you are," she cooed in his ear, "You're you."

He closed his eyes and buried himself in the crook of her neck. Out loud but only half-aware, he murmured. "My beautiful Charly."

The end.

XXX

Sugary sweet ending, I know, but everyone gets so sad when I leave things less happy ;D Lots of stuff in the works, including squeal to What You Want, a Dean Ambrose/Renee Young AU, and finishing up the incomplete Sesha, Finn/Becky, and Sami/Becky that are all at points where they could keep going. Let me know what you guys want to see! Did you enjoy Charly/Seth? They've been less super flirty on camera lately but it's still fun. Until next time...


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